The People's Princess
by Pomegranant Seeds
Summary: As Princess of Konoha, Haruno Sakura takes her duty to protect her people seriously. She will lead them in battle against anyone, including the boy she once loved. She will give up her throne for them. But Uchiha Sasuke takes his duty to protect the beautiful princess just as seriously. And he will do all he can to defend her honor. Even lead an army against her.
1. Duty Over Everything

She is a picture of beauty and salvation. Pink hair flowing in the wind and the golden rays of the sun. As she straddles the silken-white war horse beneath her, she thinks of the irony that they battle at the crack of sunset. It is appropriate for an ending, she thinks. The uprising has gotten out of hand, and she must do all that she can to defend her people. It is her duty. From the moment the King placed the bow in her hand and taught her how to kill a quail, it has been her duty. But now that her father is dead and his people are in search of a new leader, it is her duty to defend them.

The knights flanking her sit tall upon their stallions as they ready themselves for battle. But their support for the young princess did not come without prompting from the newly appointed King, her best friend. A woman should not lead a kingdom, a woman should not lead her people to battle, but this woman does. This pink-haired saint cares not for their hypocrisy. It is her God-given duty.

Quietly she smiles thinking of Naruto-baka's constant bickering with the counsel and the final pounding of his fist upon the ceremonial table as he decreed the princess's wish. But her reminiscing is cut short as the dark army approaches quickly upon the battlefield.

It is then that she sees him. The boy she loved, turned to a hardened man. He sits astride his black horse with confidence and a smirk as the army slows to a stop before the princess and her knights. Although he knows they are no match, he glances upon her form with victory plastered across his face.

"Princess, I request that you and your men back down from this battle." His smirk is gone and the hardened warrior shines through. She can see why, once upon a time, he was the head knight in her father's court.

"On what grounds do you stake your request?" Sakura will not be swayed, she is _the_ princess, and she will not give in to some uprising leader.

"The Dobe you call a king is not the proper heir to the throne." Sasuke looks directly into her deep green eyes and takes a moment to command her gaze. "We fight you, Princess, to defend your honor and your throne."

Although she knows she must retaliate, although she knows the decision is in her hands, she cannot tear her eyes away from his captivating gaze. Behind the hardened warrior she can see the boy she loves and, God, this has got to be the hardest decision the woman has ever had to make.

"Uchiha Sasuke," She takes a deep breath as his name rolls from her lips, "Uzamaki Naruto has as much right to the throne as I do. I am the Princess of Konoha and I will defend my people, and my king." At the resolute ending she raises her bow high in the air above her head and takes in a lungful of air. "All hail the King!" She shouts into the air as her gaze stays with the man before her.

The Princess's knights raise their swords above their heads as they join in her chanting. Konoha is ready for battle to defend their King, and the pink-haired princess before them will lead them to victory. When she feels her army is ready, Sakura takes a deep breath and charges the boy she once loved.

Uchiha and Haruno swords clash against each other with the beginning clang, and soon the clashing of swords rings throughout the battlefield as both armies charge the enemy.

"Sakura, you know that this isn't right." Sasuke growls as he pushes his sword towards the princess.

"It is my duty to protect my people." Sakura growls back and she feels she is winning the battle. "And if the people want Naruto, they can have him." Her voice does not falter, she does not hesitate. With passion Konoha's princess declares her devotion.

But Sasuke has devotions of his own, and he will not let the princess get in the way of her own birth-right. His sword surges forward and presses against Sakura's throat with enough pressure to make her halt her movements. "Then I will not apologize for the acts that I commit, in the name of my people." With a swift movement he kicks her off of her horse with enough force to knock her unconscious. He always did remind her to wear her riding helmet.

Sasuke quickly scoops up the unconscious maiden from the ground and throws her on the back of his horse, before reaching for his sword and blocking an oncoming blow. Step one: get the princess, was complete. Now all he had to do was make it through her army and outside of the kingdom to finish his mission.


	2. Duty Over The Past

"Is the princess really in there?"

"I don't know, maybe we should open the door and see."

"I hear Sasuke-kun carried her all the way here."

"She must really be something then."

Sakura groaned as she opened her eyes to the white canopy above her. The chatter outside of her door was raising in volume and she had half a mind to open her bedroom door and yell at the annoying maids for their unprofessional behavior. But as she sat up in the plush bed beneath her she realized she was not in her room. That the battle was not a dream. She was a prisoner. Angrily Sakura threw her face into her pillow and let out a howl of disappointment and frustration.

"Princess Forehead, get your head out of that pillow. You'll just make your head bigger." The nasally voice of her best girlfriend sliced through the air with determination. Ino never let her sulk for very long.

Sakura sat up slowly in her bed and turned to face the blonde noble. "Ino? What are you doing here? Why am I here?" Sakura threw herself out of the bed despite her confusion and stomped her foot on the ground. "I demand you to tell me what the fuck is going on!" She hadn't meant to lose her cool really, but with the aching pain in the back of her head and the lack of clarity in her situation, Sakura was finding it increasingly more difficult to behave like the princess she was raised to be.

"Forehead shut up." Ino rolled her eyes at her friend's temper tantrum. "You are in Otogakure. Sasuke killed Orochimaru and banished Kabuto for eternity, and now he's likely to be the king." Ino sighed like she was bored. "When you rode off to battle Sasuke, Danzou decreed the nobles be banished from Konoha for some treasonous crime or something. So all of the clans are staying here in Oto until you go back and claim your throne."

Sakura took a moment to let all of Ino's words sink in. "Danzou?" She repeated slowly. "But Danzou is a noble himself, he only trains the Black Knights, why would he have any say in that matter? Naruto is king." Sakura continued to stand tall, and Ino smiled at the picture she made. Sakura was a true leader, back erect, chin up, chest out.

"Naruto was imprisoned as soon as we left." Ino watched as Sakura's eyes widened. "Danzou intends to overthrow him as King, and take the throne."

"But they cannot overthrow a King that they-" Sakura stopped talking as Ino sharply held up a prettily painted finger.

"The people cannot overthrow a ruler who obtained the throne by _blood_." Ino corrected. "They have every right to overthrow a King who was given the position by them." She slowly approached the shocked princess. "Only a Haruno has a right to the throne, and cannot be ripped away from it." Ino grabbed both of Sakura's hand in hers. "The law is in the very scrolls you studied for years Sakura."

Sakura shook her head and ripped her hands away from Ino. "If the people want Danzou as king, then they can have him." She took a deep breath and took a step away from her. "It is my duty as princess to give the people what they want."

Ino's blue eyes burned with fire as she glared down her best friend. "Sakura, pull your head out of your ass." She stomped over to the large wooden door and ripped it open. "When you finally realize how much you are hurting your people, we can talk. But until then why don't you just go marry the fucking castle." Ino slammed the door loudly behind her.

Sakura quietly sank to the floor as Ino's words truly sank into her mind. Her best friend was in prison, the nobles were banished, and her father was not there to clean up the mess. It hit her all in one blow and took away her breath as her arms fell limp at her sides.

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Sasuke took a deep breath as he watched Kakashi reading his dirty little book. He'd come to see his old sensei in order to get some advice, but so far the old man had done nothing but read his book, he hadn't even looked up at the short-tempered Uchiha before him.

"Kakashi." Sasuke growled out of irritation.

"Sasuke." Kakashi parroted back, his eyes not moving an inch from the page in his book.

"Sakura is upstairs." Sasuke sighed and leaned back against the wall of the castle next to the tree Kakashi was sitting in.

"Yes, I can see from right here." Kakashi gestured with his head to the window next to him. "It seems that Ino just visited her."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "She visited with me earlier." Sasuke rolled his neck and began to gently massage the tension out of it. "She's delusional."

"Sakura or Ino?" Kakashi asked disinterestedly.

"Both." Sasuke sighed with resignation, hoping Kakashi would understand his plea for help.

"When the king needed to tell Sakura something he would take her out for target practice in the woods, or for a sparring session on the grounds." Kakashi turned a page, understanding the Uchiha's childish actions. "She certainly did not seem delusional then."

Sasuke grunted and pushed himself off of the wall he was leaning against. He knew that about Sakura, he knew more about her then anyone. And yet he still couldn't figure out how to apply his knowledge to dealing with the princess. He smirked as he remembered all of the times he had failed at communicating to her how he felt.

_"__Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screamed in frustration from behind him as she raced to catch up with him. "Why did you do that to Kiba-san? He simply held my hand, he was not going to harm me."_

_Sasuke's balled-up fists tightened and he clenched his teeth as he continued to stomp along the dirt road. "How could either of us be sure? I was doing my duty Princess."_

_Sakura, having finally caught up to Sasuke, gripped his shirt in her fingers and yanked him back towards her. "Don't call me that!" She screamed in frustration and stomped her foot on the ground. "Sasuke, stop with the whole 'Princess' thing for a moment will you?" She sighed and averted her gaze. "I thought we were close enough for you to be my friend, not my servant."_

_Sasuke's eyes softened at her sweet words and he resisted the urge to reach out and pull her into a hug. He was her knight, and he should behave as such. "You are the Princess Sakura." Her gaze captured his and he had to take a moment to catch his breath. "And it is my duty to protect you."_

_The teen's lip trembled and she snatched her eyes away from his as quickly as possible. "Then I guess it must only be your duty that keeps you my friend." A tear ran down her cheek and she shook her head as she stomped past him. "Walk me home Knight." She said curtly._

Sasuke took a deep breath as he approached Sakura's bedroom door and quietly knocked on the grand wood.

He heard a few strong sniffles before she answered. "You may enter."

Sasuke opened the door and strode into her room, closing the door behind him and looking for signs of the pink-haired princess. When he found none he ventured further into the room to search for her. "Princess?" He called into the room.

Sakura emerged from the bathroom and glared at the knight in her presence. "What do you want Sasuke?"

Sasuke smirked and stood straight as he looked upon her haggard form. He had laid her upon the bed the night before in her armor, and decided against taking it off, to defend her honor of course. But he now noticed that she stood in nothing more than her undergarments before him. Sasuke took off the deep velvet cape on his shoulders and quickly strode over to the princess.

"I merely came to see how you are feeling." He settled the cape over her shoulders. "You did suffer a considerably severe head injury."

Sakura scowled and pushed him away from her, and threw the cape off of her shoulders. "I am your prisoner, and I should be treated as such."

Sasuke's smirk widened and he dropped to his knees before her. "You are my Princess, and I will treat you as such." He lifted his head to look up at her. "Granted you are the Princess in her undergarments, you are still the Princess."

Upon realization of his words Sakura blushed and scrambled to pick up the cape at her feet, before wrapping it around herself. "Regardless of me being a princess, I am your prisoner." Sakura spoke slowly, regaining her composure. "Why am I not in a cell?"

"You are not my prisoner Princess." Sasuke rose to his feet and looked down at the pretty maiden in front of him. "You are my guest, and I intend to treat you as such."

Sakura resisted the urge to roll her eyes in an undignified manner. "Guests are free to come and go as they please, you brought me here against my wishes."

Sasuke's smirk fell as his tone became serious. "You have nowhere else to go Princess. Danzou has decreed that the moment you step foot in Konoha, that you be imprisoned and enslaved." Sasuke's playful smirk returned. "I am being very generous in letting you stay in my palace, seeing as how you have no place else to go."

Sakura's face reddened even more in frustration. "What about Sunagakure?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Danzou's armies are on their way to the village, he hopes to force them into an alliance." He reached out to tie the cape around her shoulders. "I am all you have left Princess."

Sakura pushed his hands away from her. "I do not need your charity Uchiha." She growled in frustration. "I can take care of myself."

Sasuke looked at the princess before him. No, she didn't need his help anymore. She was strong and could take care of herself. But this duty was bestowed upon him the day he was born, and he would not fail. "Aa." He nodded. "But you will receive my 'charity' anyways." Sasuke turned back to the door, and paused with his hand wrapped around the door handle. "You will meet me for dinner, the maids will help you into appropriate attire."

"And if I am not hungry?" Sakura stuck her chin in the air.

"I did not say you had to eat." He shrugged.

"If I am your guest, I can choose whether or not to meet you for dinner." Sakura turned her back to the infuriating man before her and looked out of the window before her.

Sasuke nodded again and smirked. "Yes, but as Princess of Konohagakure it is your duty to your people to dine with your host, the King of Otogakure." With finality Sasuke closed the door behind him as he stepped out into the hall and listened to the sounds inside of her room for a moment longer. When he finally heard her scream of frustration, and a string of curses he began to walk down the hallway. "Same old temper-tantrum-throwing Sakura." Sasuke shook his head to himself.

_"__Sakura, it's only an apple." An eight-year-old Sasuke sighed as he watched a five-year-old Sakura clench her fists and her face turn red from anger._

_Naruto and Sakura had gone apple-picking in the garden. Apparently Sakura had found the perfect apple, and 'that baka Naruto' came flying through the trees and knocked her apple over the castle wall. And now Sakura was claiming that, as her knight, it was Sasuke's duty to pummel the blonde for his heinous crime._

_"__But Sasuke-kun, I am the princess and I cannot hit him." She pouted prettily. "Please Sasuke-kun, it was the perfect apple."_

_Sasuke rolled his eyes and shook his head, crossing his arms. "No."_

_Sakura let out a howl of frustration and launched herself at her favorite knight, continuously hitting him in the chest as the tears streamed down her chubby cheeks. "But it was the perfect apple, and I wanted to give it to you to thank you for always watching me. And I spent all day in the garden with that Naruto-baka searching for the perfect one…"_

_Sasuke sighed as she continued her ranting and slowly sat up, grabbing onto Sakura's wrists. "Okay, fine Sakura." He picked up the tiny princess and placed her next to him in the grass. "Where is the Dobe?"_

_Sakura's bottom lip jutted out and she pointed towards the gardens. Sasuke stood and began to walk to the gardens to have a stern-talking to with the blonde, until Sakura launched herself at his back and kissed his cheek._

_"__Thank you Sasuke-kun!" She exclaimed happily, before running back towards the castle._

_Sasuke sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair as he watched her prance away. "Annoying." He mumbled before turning back towards the gardens._


	3. Duty Over Desire

_"__Hinata-chan, please loosen the ties a little. I cannot breathe with this corset so tight." Sakura took a deep gulp of air as her Lady-In-Waiting loosened the ties of her corset._

_"__Ah, s-sorry Princess." Hinata stuttered quietly. "Y-you look beautiful in your n-new dress."_

_Sakura sighed and ran her hands down her now miniscule abdomen. "Hinata-chan, please do not be so formal with me." Sakura turned to her friend. "We have known each other for sixteen years now. You are one of my closest friends, please just call me Sakura."_

_Hinata scrambled to finish tying Sakura's corset. "Y-yes, s-sorry Sakura-san."_

_Sakura sighed and shook her head as Hinata finished tying her corset. "I suppose that's all I'll get from you." Sakura giggled as she noticed Hinata's tiny glare from over her shoulder. "So how was your dinner with Naruto's family last night?"_

_Hinata's face quickly turned red as she turned away from the nosy princess. "I-it was fine S-Sakura-san." Hinata took a deep sigh as Sakura continued to stare her shy friend down. "Naruto-kun w-walked m-me around th-the g-garden."_

_Sakura chuckled at her friend and put her hand on her Hinata's shoulder. "Alright, alright slow down Hinata." Sakura smiled as her friend's face reddened even more. "Naruto told me all about last night, I just felt like teasing you a little bit." Sakura hugged her closest friend and smiled. "I wish you the best of luck in your courting endeavor with Naruto."_

_Hinata smiled and hugged her friend tightly back. "I wish you luck as well Sakura-chan." Hinata smiled slyly as she gazed upon her friend. "I hope one day you and S-Sasuke-san can be happy."_

_Sakura shook her head sadly. "Oh Hinata-chan, that idea is simply impossible." Sakura trudged over to her bureau and picked up a ribbon to match her light blue dress and began to tie it into her cherry blossom hair. "Sasuke-kun is too dedicated to his 'duty' to me to even consider me as more than a bothersome charge."_

_Hinata grabbed a brush and combed through her friend's locks with melancholy strokes. "You just have to trust in your love for him to bring you two together."_

_Sakura smiled and turned to give her friend another hug. "Hinata-chan, that may have been the third time you haven't stuttered around me."_

_Hinata glared at her friend as they broke the embrace. She opened her mouth to speak to the spunky princess when a knock on the door cut her off._

_"__You may enter." Sakura called to the visitor before winking at her best friend._

_Sasuke quietly entered the princess's room as usual and nodded to both girls in greeting._

_"__Good afternoon Sasuke-san." Hinata bowed slightly to the knight before her. Hinata smiled at Sakura. "Good bye Sakura-san." Hinata hurried out of her friend's room and quietly shut the door behind her._

_"__We should get going Princess, it is not proper for you to be alone with a man in your room." Sasuke bowed before his princess._

_Sakura sighed and pulled Sasuke up from his bowing position and into a hug. "Good afternoon to you too Sasuke-kun." Sakura released her knight before he had an aneurism from her affection. "'oh Sakura I missed you so much when I was away for my knightly training!'" Sakura mocked Sasuke's voice with a deep intonation and then smiled cheekily at him. "Oh Sasuke-kun I missed you too!"_

_Sasuke rolled his eyes at the princess's childish antics. "Why did you request my presence?"_

_Sakura sighed and pushed Sasuke's shoulder. "You're such a damper Sasuke." Sakura continued out of her room and through the halls with Sasuke following behind her, patiently waiting her answer. "I thought we could go riding, to celebrate you being back."_

_Sasuke smirked and snorted. "Your father is going to allow you to ride a horse after the incident last month?"_

_Sakura turned to glare at the infuriating knight behind her. "It was not an 'incident' Sasuke." Sakura stuck her chin up in the air and continued to stomp ahead of her love. "And my father will let me do anything as long as it is with you." Sakura sighed as they stepped out onto the grounds. "He trusts you with everything."_

_Sasuke shook his head and watched as Sakura pranced ahead of him. "And you think that it is a good idea to ride a horse in your new dress?"_

_Sakura blushed and quietly twirled a strand of hair around her finger. "I didn't think you'd notice my new dress." Sakura sighed when she noticed that Sasuke wasn't going to respond. "Besides, father ordered this dress be made specifically for riding." Sakura watched as Sasuke approached his favorite horse. She always loved to watch him interact with animals, there was something so attractive about his caring side. 'And I ordered it specifically to catch your eye.' Sakura thought remorsefully to herself before sighing and grabbing her horse's saddle._

Sakura sighed as she remembered a time when she would dress up to impress Sasuke. But now as his maids helped her into a deep red gown, Sakura couldn't help but compare the contrasting circumstances. The young princess sighed as she looked at her form in the mirror. Her once long waist-length hair was cut short, falling around her shoulders in choppy waves. And the perfectly preserved skin on her face and hands was now sun-worn. She had truly evolved from the love-sick puppy she was before. But now as the nervous butterflies danced in her stomach, she couldn't help but feel a little like the weak girl she once was.

"Princess-san, you look beautiful in red." One of the maids spoke quietly as she laced up the back of the dress. "Sasuke-san hand-picked this dress out for you. He has great taste." The maid smiled cheekily.

Sakura sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "It seems that no matter where Sasuke-san goes he leaves a trail of devoted maidens behind him."

The young maid blushed and hurriedly finished dressing Sakura in her dress. "Is there anything else I can get you Princess?"

Sakura shook her head and shooed the girl out of the room. She admired her form in the mirror for a moment as soon as the door shut behind the maid. The dress truly did complement her, and Sakura wondered how someone so socially constipated as Sasuke was capable of picking out such a tasteful dress. The deep red velvet of the dress stood out against her now tanned skin and showed how truly bright her pink hair was.

Sakura sighed as she stepped away from the mirror and headed out of the door to find a maid to help her to the dining room.

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Sasuke sighed as he swirled his wine around in his cup. Naruto's cousin, Karin, was chatting his ear off about how much she missed her beloved Suigetsu. Apparently, because they were betrothed it was his duty to make sure that he did not accept any missions due to her missing him. Sasuke scoffed, as if he would let one of his best warriors off duty because his irritating betrothed 'missed' him.

Thankfully Kakashi came to save his ex-student. "Sasuke-san, there seems to be a problem with one of the patrol units." He looked at Karin and bowed slightly. "If you would excuse us Uzamaki-san."

Karin glared at Sasuke and then Kakashi. "This is not over." The fiery red-head threw her nose in the air and stomped away from the pair.

Sasuke looked warily at the silver-haired knight beside him. "What did they run into?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Gossip. They have been endlessly chattering about the rumored beauty of the Princess of Konoha."

Sasuke shrugged and mindlessly observed as the other nobles chattered around the dining hall. Everyone had been excited to hear of Sakura's 'arrival', well except for the princess herself of course. Sasuke sighed as he thought about the beautiful royal residing in one of his guest rooms. It would be hell trying to convince her to fight to get her throne back. Sasuke had noticed the change in Sakura's determination for the throne when her father had died. She had become so dedicated to her 'duty' that she would give up everything for her people.

Sasuke turned to his teacher, who was mirroring his position. "Sakura is scarred." He stated quietly, so only the two of them could hear.

His teacher nodded and glanced at his favorite student. "She will realize what she needs to do." Kakashi reassured him. "She is a smart young woman. She will figure it out." Kakashi always did have a way of knowing exactly what Sasuke meant.

But the newly appointed king simply shrugged nonchalantly as he continued to watch the stairs from the guest rooms. Sakura should have been down minutes ago. He knew it didn't take her this long to dress. But as soon as he finished his last thought, the beautiful princess from his memories daintily made her way down the stairs. He watched as her dress fanned out around her legs and seemingly floated around her body. Sasuke cleared his throat of the frog that had suddenly found its way into his trachea, and walked over to Sakura.

"Good evening Sasuke-san." Sakura bowed her head slightly and curtsied neatly before the knight turned king.

Sasuke bowed his head in response and held his arm out for her to take. Sakura took his arm quietly and they walked towards the dining table. The other nobles all gathered around the table as Sasuke escorted the princess to her seat. Sakura blushed prettily as all eyes averted to her and Sasuke. But Sakura took a deep breath and thought about the situation for a moment. This wasn't the first time a man had escorted her to dinner. No, it was just the first time _Sasuke_ had escorted her to dinner. And never before had she felt more watched and nervous in her life.

Sasuke pulled out her chair, and she noticed that it was the seat directly to his left. "Thank you Sasuke-san." Sakura sat in her chair and kept her gaze away from the beautiful king next to her.

Sasuke sat down in his chair at the head of the table and turned to face Kakashi as he stood to make the toast.

"Today we feast to celebrate the crowning of Uchiha Sasuke as King of Otogakure, and the arrival of the beautiful Princess of Konoha." Kakashi turned to wink at the pink-haired princess. "We know our king will bring us nothing but wealth and good fortune, and freedom from Danzou's tyranny." Kakashi faced Sasuke and raced his glass to him. "All hail the King."

The rest of the nobles joined in the chanting and Sakura almost choked on her wine as she realized the parallel between the dining table and the battle that had transpired the day before. 'All hail the King', was that not the chorus she had led her knights to? But Sakura's thoughts were erased as the chorus died down and the dining hall erupted into chatter.

"So, Princess, I hear Konoha has the most comfortable climate." Karin asked, smiling at the melancholy princess.

Sakura smiled politely and nodded her head towards the red-head. "Yes, I love the weather. It is always a perfect day in Konoha."

One of the nobles snorted from his seat across the table. "If you loved your precious Konoha so much, then why do you abandon it to hide away in the King's castle?" The drunken man slurred standing abruptly.

Sasuke sent a glare towards the drunken noble and stood quietly, commanding the attention of everyone in the room. "The princess is here upon my request." Sasuke began slowly. "As King it is my duty to protect her, and as an allied kingdom, it is your duty to respect her." Sasuke nodded his head towards the man and a group of knights led him out of the dining hall.

The room stewed in quiet contemplation for a moment before Sakura cleared her throat and turned to the man at her side. "Thank you, Sasuke-san, for protecting me."

Sasuke nodded and the room erupted into chatter once again as the group enjoyed their dinner.

"Princess, was Naruto well when you last saw him?" Choji asked from across Sakura.

Sakura nodded happily. "Oh yes, he was wondering when he would get the chance to see everyone again." She smiled at him. "He was very unhappy with all of the work the counsel had place upon him after his coronation."

Choji nodded and began to dig into his food again. But Sakura was no longer feeling hungry. As she glanced around at the familiar faces of the noble families she felt a tug on her heart. She was the Princess, shouldn't she do something to save her nobles? Were they not her people too?

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As the rest of the nobles questioned Sakura about the last time she saw Naruto, dessert crept upon the dinner party in a quickening pace. But as the chatter died down and nobles began to excuse themselves family by family. Soon only Sakura and Kakashi were left in the dining hall with the King.

"Sakura-san," Kakashi called softly, "tomorrow you should join Sasuke and I for our training session."

Sakura nodded eagerly. "I would love to Kakashi-san." Sakura had been waiting since she was a young girl, to train with the legendary Sir. Kakashi Hatake. He was a legendary Black Knight, and had trained many of Konoha's prodigies, including Sasuke and Naruto.

Kakashi stood and bowed before Sakura. "Well until tomorrow then, Princess."

Sakura bowed her head and smiled happily to herself as the legendary knight left the dining hall. When the large wooden door shut closed and echoed in the empty hall Sakura nervously glanced at Sasuke. "I should head back to my room. It is not proper for a princess to be alone with a king who is not her father."

Sasuke smirked as he glanced at her. "And who is here to judge what is proper?" He watched as Sakura's eyes widened at his words.

"Well you were always the one concerned with my honor, and protecting it." Sakura sighed and poked at the cake on her plate.

Sasuke watched as the princess daintily played with her food. "A King is more suited to make decisions on what is damaging and not damaging to a princess's honor."

Sakura turned to look at Sasuke, and for a moment his fiery gaze caught hers, and she found herself having to catch her breath again. But when she did catch her breath Sakura remembered all of Sasuke's references to his royal status. "A King does not simply wear a crown Sasuke." The cherry blossom princess stood from her chair and looked down upon the king. "A King must protect his people and dedicate himself to his kingdom with honor and fairness."

Sasuke stood and looked Sakura in the eye. "You will find, Princess, that I am a king in every aspect of the word."

Sakura stopped breathing as Sasuke leaned his face closer to hers, so that his words blew breath across her lips. And before she knew it words were spilling out of her mouth. "You are not a proper king until you have a queen."

Sasuke gave her half a smirk and pulled away from the princess. "I intend to look into such an endeavor." Sasuke held his arm out for Sakura to take and began to escort her out of the dining room. "If you are going to train with us tomorrow, you will need your rest."

Sakura scowled and took in the details of the tapestries on the walls. "I am not weak Sasuke-san. I have been trained by many warriors, and am a worthy opponent on the battlefield." The frustrated young maiden wanted to be as far away from her first love as possible. He was absolutely infuriating. Why did the castle have to be so large?

"I was not underestimating your capabilities." Sasuke attempted to catch the princess's eye. "But as someone who has trained with Kakashi-san before, I know that the first few sessions are particularly taxing on the body."

Sakura turned to Sasuke and gave him a smirk that rivaled his own. "You have changed quite a bit Sasuke-san, never would you have referred to my body." Surely this would throw him off and bring back the strict, rule-following knight she knew before.

"If I wanted to refer to your body, Princess, I would take full advantage of the reference." Sasuke's eyes burned holes into Sakura's, and she had to look away before she burst into flames.

Sakura blushed heavily, praying that they would reach her room quickly. This playful Sasuke was very different from the boy she once knew. "You have changed a lot Sasuke-san."

"So have you Princess." Sasuke slowed their pace down as they reached Sakura's door. "You no longer need me to protect you, and beat up Dobes."

Sakura smiled at him sadly. "Is that why you left, why you requested your five-year quest?" Sasuke looked away from the princess, and Sakura knew he wasn't going to answer her question. "Regardless of if I needed you Sasuke-san, I always wanted you."

Sasuke turned to look at the princess once again and released her arm slowly, but held onto her hand. "And now I am once again at your service Princess." Sasuke pressed his lips to the back of her hand. "Sleep well Princess."

Sakura watched as Sasuke walked away, painfully remembering the day he left Konoha, the day he left her.

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_"__Sasuke-kun, what are you trying to say?" Sakura huffed as she halted her horse. The two had been out riding for the day, and Sasuke had been trying to hint at something the whole time, but she wasn't understanding._

_Sasuke took a deep breath and stopped his horse next to her. "I requested that your father send me on a quest." Sasuke sighed as he watched Sakura's face change from confused, to angry, to hurt. "And he gave me one." Sasuke began slowly. "I have a five-year quest in Oto."_

_Sakura looked away from her knight and kicked her horse into a sprint._

_"__Sakura!" Sasuke called after his princess and began to chase after her. What if she went too far and got lost, what if she was lost to him- to her kingdom forever? Sasuke easily caught up to Sakura on his war horse and they ran next to each other until Sakura had decided she had run out enough frustration. Their horses slowed to a trot and stopped around one of the lakes they used to play in as children._

_"__Why are you leaving?" Sakura stood tall on her horse and kept her gaze away from the only man she had ever loved._

_Sasuke sighed and stayed where he was, his eyes anywhere but the captivating princess before him. "I need to gain status."_

_"__You have status!" Sakura flailed her arms. "You are the King's most trusted knight, you protect the Princess." Sakura finally turned to face him, tears streaking down her face. "Am I not good enough for you Sasuke? Is my love not enough to make you stay, is it not enough 'status' for you?"_

_Sasuke took a deep breath and kept his gaze on one of the large trees surrounding them. "Princess, I am not worthy of your love." Sasuke stared determinedly at the crystal waters of the lake. "I am a Knight, and you deserve a King."_

_Sakura sniffled and took a deep breath. "What if I wasn't a princess?" She said quietly. "What if I was a noble, or a peasant? Would I be enough for you then?"_

_Sasuke sighed and finally looked up at the tear stained face of the only girl he ever tolerated. "But you are not a peasant or a noble. You are the Princess."_

_Sakura glared at her knight and began to trot away from him. "I wish you luck on your journey Knight." _


	4. Duty is Priority

**A/N: This chapter is extremely unedited so I apologize for any mistakes. Please excuse my temporary absence, as this story will not be updated until the weekend is over. Thank you for reading!**

"Really Sasuke, why won't you just admit the real reason you became King of Oto." Kakashi sighed tiredly as his prized pupil came at him with a sword.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and continued to attack his old sensei. "I became King because the people needed a ruler, because it was the quest given to me by the king."

"God rest his soul." Kakashi sighed warily.

"Good Morning Kakashi-san!" Sakura called from the observation area next to the training grounds. The Princess was back in her battle armor and ready for training.

Kakashi and Sasuke both stopped their fighting to bow before the princess. Kakashi eyed his former student for a moment before turning to the princess. "Good morning Princess. How are you this morning?"

"I'm very excited." Sakura smiled brightly. "My father has told me many stories of all of the legendary things you have done, and I am honored to train with you." The young princess bowed before the aged knight.

"Ah, I see." Kakashi nodded and grabbed a sword from the rack behind him. "Then let the training begin."

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"Excuse me Kakashi-san, but how does this pertain to battle?" Sakura huffed out in frustration as she picked herself up from the ground. Kakashi's training consisted of hanging from a tree upside down by your legs for hours on end. Physically it was ridiculous to force all of this blood to your head, and Sakura had enough of falling out of a tree.

Kakashi shrugged, but kept his visible eye closed as he focused on hanging. "Princess, in battle you will find that even the most ridiculous skills come in handy."

Sakura rolled her eyes and brushed the dirt and leaves off of her sleeve. "I fail to understand how hanging out of a tree will assist me in battle." Sakura stomped her foot on the ground and continued to glare at the silver-haired knight hanging before her.

Suddenly a cold metal found its way pressed against her neck, and Sakura felt a mouth by her ear. "If you ever need to assassinate someone, this trick will come in handy." Sakura shivered as Sasuke pulled the knife away from her throat and jumped out of the tree. "You can be hanging from a tree, in plain sight and no one will see you if you hang still."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Or you could sit in a tree from a few yards away with a bow and arrow and take someone out."

Kakashi chuckled and jumped out of the tree. "Why don't we take a break? I will meet both of you back here at sunset." Kakashi bowed before both royals. "Sasuke, Princess." With that Kakashi turned and left the training grounds.

"Sunset?" Sakura turned to Sasuke in both confusion and irritation. "Why would we be training after sunset?"

Sasuke shrugged and began to walk back towards the palace. "If you never train at night, how will you be a proficient fighter past daylight?"

Sakura sighed and ran to catch up with Sasuke. "Sasuke, why did you bring me here?"

"To protect you." He answered without hesitation.

Sakura grabbed Sasuke's arm and made him turn to face her. "I'm being serious Sasuke." Sasuke turned to face her. "You haven't protected me for five years. Why are you protecting me all of a sudden?"

Sasuke sighed and used slowly moved the hand that Sakura was holding up towards her face. Sakura's breath hitched and her eyes widened in anticipation of what he might do. Sasuke pushed a pink lock behind Sakura's ear, and let his hand trail down her neck.

"Just because I wasn't there, doesn't mean I wasn't protecting you." Sasuke turned and continued walking into the castle.

"Sasuke!" Sakura yelled in frustration as she trailed after him. "That still doesn't answer my question!"

Sasuke ignored her as he turned to one of the maids. "Please have lunch prepared for the Princess and I. We will eat in the sun room."

"Hai." The young maiden responded and turned to complete her task.

Sasuke turned back to the pink-haired princess and gestured with his hand that she should follow him. "I don't need to answer your questions Princess."

Sakura huffed and stopped following the infuriating King in front of her. "Then I find no need to be polite King." Sakura spat back.

Sasuke stopped and stalked towards the stubborn pinkette until their faces were mere inches apart from each other. "Do not underestimate my patience Sakura." His eyes bore into hers despite the softness behind them. "I will get my way, do not doubt that."

Sakura glared right back at Sasuke and stood even straighter. "And in case you forgot Sasuke-san," Sakura punctuated every syllable of the haughty king's name. "I will get my way as well. I always get my way."

Sasuke smirked and leaned away from the object of his attention. "And what is it that you could possibly want Princess?"

Sakura pushed away from the infuriating King and turned her head away from him. "That, King, is none of your concern."

Sasuke 'Tchd.' And continued to walk ahead of the pink haired princess. "Regardless, I still have something to show you." Sasuke turned to glance at her. "You will follow me."

Sakura huffed and crossed her arms, following after Sasuke nonetheless. "I keep thinking you've changed, and then I realize you're the same prick you were before."

Sasuke made a snorting sound, similar to a chuckle. "And you're still the same spoiled princess you were before."

Sakura glared at Sasuke's back as they came upon a great glass door. "I am not a spoiled princess anymore. I have given my throne for the people."

Sasuke stopped in front of Sakura and looked her in the eye. "You are spoiled, because you think your throne is something to give up." Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "You are putting your people through hell, because you think that your way is right. That Princess, is spoiled." Sasuke turned and opened the glass doors then turned to face Sakura again. "This is the palace garden. Kabuto used it for medicinal herbs, and most of the plants are still here."

Sakura didn't even face Sasuke as he ventured into the garden. She was too wrapped up in her thoughts of what Sasuke had said.

_"__You are spoiled, because you think your throne is something to give up."_

_"…__something to give up."_

_"…__give up."_

_"__Sakura, let me tell you a story." Sakura's father called to the little princess running around the throne room. The tiny pink-haired ball of energy flung herself onto her father's lap. "Once upon a time, long ago there was a very selfish king. He never sat in his palace, he was always out in the kingdom answering everyone's questions, helping people with their problems, and making sure the people of his kingdom were happy."_

_"__So how was he selfish Daddy?" Tiny Sakura asked, tilting her head to the side in a confused manner._

_The King smiled and tapped his daughter on the nose. "I'm getting there Hime." He kissed her forehead and continued on with his tale. "Then one day a strange man came into the kingdom and convinced the people that he would be a better ruler. That he would make them all rich, that he would make them all happy beyond their wildest dreams. So the King, gave up his throne to the stranger that the people wanted to be king."_

_Sakura shook her head. "But that's not being selfish!" Sakura looked at her father even more confused._

_The King sighed and continued on with his story. "When the stranger took the throne he gave the people all of the money, and the people spent the money on silly things. Soon the kingdom had absolutely no more money, and could barely function. The people began to starve, and couldn't buy the things they needed. In the end the stranger they thought would make them happy, only made them suffer."_

_"__I still don't get it." The little girl looked down at the floor and her eyes began to tear up in misunderstanding._

_The King chuckled and wiped his daughter's tears. "He was being selfish, because he gave the people what they wanted, and not what they needed." The king looked his daughter in the eye. "As a ruler you will have to learn the difference between what the people need, and what the people want so that you can let them live well. Not happily."_

_Sakura smiled and finally nodded her head in understanding. "Oh! I get it! It's like when Mommy tells me I can't have any more cookies, because I will get a tummy ache even though I want more!"_

_The King sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Yes Sakura-hime, it's just like that." The King lifted his daughter in the air and tickled her stomach playfully. "Now let's go see what Minato-san and Naruto are up to, maybe we can beat them in a game of hide-and-seek." The King winked at his daughter and carried her out to the palace gardens._

Sakura wiped at the liquid on her cheeks, not realizing she had started crying. She was being selfish, she was what the people needed, not what they wanted and she was denying them. She knew what she had to do. "Sasuke!" She called into the garden, when she got no answer she ran inside in an attempt to find him. Blinded by her tears, Sakura knocked over a few plants, but she kept running.

"Sakura?" Sasuke turned to face the princess, but it was too late, the pink blur ran into the tall king. With a grunt Sasuke caught Sakura before she could fall, and noticed the tears running down her face.

"I'm the selfish king." She sobbed into his chest.

Sasuke looked at her confused before he spoke. "Are you trying to insult me?"

Sakura giggled and pushed away from him, wiping the tears from her eyes. "My father used to tell me a story about a selfish king. I am the selfish king, Sasuke." Sakura stood tall and looked at her old friend. "I need to save my people, and I need your help."

Sasuke smirked at the beautiful princess before him. "I thought I was going to have to make you figure it out." Sasuke whispered quietly as he kept his hands on her arms.

Sakura smiled up at him. "I'm smarter then I look Sasuke-kun." Sakura let go of him and took a few steps away. "I know that you brought me here to save me from myself, and I know that you went on the quest so that you could be the safe haven for the nobles when Danzou overthrew the kingdom. Everything makes sense now."

Sasuke sighed and sweat-dropped, apparently he had a lot more convincing to do to get Sakura to fully understand his reasons. "Is that what you think?"

Sakura pouted and crossed her arms. "I really thought I had it figured out at this point."

Sasuke shook his head and ventured further into the garden. "Still as dense as ever."

"Hey, I heard that!" Sakura yelled, racing to catch up to Sasuke.

_The door to Sakura's room creaked open slowly and someone slipped inside, covered by the darkness of her room. The intruder made their way over to her bed where the princess was sleeping moments ago._

_"__Sakura." The intruder called quietly to the reclining maiden._

_"__Sasuke?" Sakura asked back just as quietly. "What are you doing here?" She sat up in bed. "How did you get in here? I locked the door."_

_Sasuke smirked into the darkness. "I am the King, this is my palace, I have the keys to every room." He leaned his face forward until their lips were inches apart, like he had done earlier in the day._

_"__Y-you still haven't answered my question." Sakura stammered, reminding her of her friend Hinata. "What are you doing here?"_

_Sasuke leaned forward until his lips were at her ear. "You said you wanted me, don't you remember?" The handsome king climbed into the bed and forced Sakura to lie on her back as he hovered over her. "I am just here, giving you what you want."_

_Sakura took in a deep, shaky breath as she tried to think of something to say. "Th-this is not proper!"_

_Sasuke pressed his lips to her cheek, and then trailed them down to her neck. "Why not? I am a king, you are a princess. Is this not natural?" Sasuke's lips parted on her neck, and she felt his hot breath on her skin._

_"__S-Sasuke." She called in a warning tone to the man above her._

_Sasuke pulled back and glared at the girl below him. "Am I not enough for you?" Sasuke punched the pillow next to her head. "I became King of Oto for you. I became King so that I could take you away and marry you Sakura." Sasuke's lips continued to trail down her neck to the top of her nightdress. "I became King for you."_

Sakura jolted up in bed in a cold sweat. What was all of that about? She had never had dreams of Sasuke like that before. Sakura threw herself back on her bed and took a deep breath to try and clear her head. She knew she still loved Sasuke, and true, Sasuke was now on the table with his new royal status. But she had a duty to her people still… didn't she? But then again, a queen did need a king didn't she?

Sakura sat in bed staring at the canopy of her bed until she had made her decision. She would save her people, and she would get Sasuke to love her just as much as she loved him. She could complete two missions at the same time couldn't she? She was after all the Princess of Konoha. She led armies, she battled legendary knights. She could regain her crown, and get the socially constipated Uchiha Sasuke to fall in love with her. Couldn't she?


	5. Duty Over Pride

"This is… troublesome." Shikamaru sighed rubbing the back of his head. He had been in the King's war-room since the crack of dawn this morning, and they hadn't taken a break since lunch.

"Nice to know you haven't changed much Shikamaru." Sakura smiled brightly at her old friend. Everyone was starting to get tired and irritable, and the young princess was doing her best to keep everyone moving along.

Sasuke scoffed and shook his head. "We will find a way." He turned his attention back to the giant map before them. "We just need to keep looking."

Sakura scowled at the King. Couldn't he see that her people were becoming useless with their increasing fatigue? "Why don't we all take a break out by the koi ponds?" Sakura smiled slyly at Sasuke. "I'm sure we could all use something to eat and refresh our energy."

Sasuke eyed her carefully for a moment before nodding his head and gesturing for one of the maids to prepare lunch. "We will meet back here in two hours."

Choji let out a loud sigh of relief and grabbed Kiba by the arm as they raced outside, and were soon followed by the routinely quiet Shino.

"Thank you for convincing Sasuke-san to give us a break Princess." Shikamaru smirked at the young pinkette. "His troublesome work ethic normally runs us into the ground."

Sakura smiled and stole a glance at Sasuke. "Does he always prepare for battle this way?"

Shikamaru shook his head wryly and looked up softly at her. "To Sasuke, this is not just a battle Sakura." Shikamaru turned and continued outside of the war-room without another word to the confused princess.

Sakura, however stayed behind to study the maps a little bit more. She knew her kingdom like she knew the hairs on her head. Why couldn't she find a suitable way into the castle for an ambush? Frustrated, Sakura plopped into one of the chairs and immersed herself in the map once more.

"You should take your own advice Princess." Although the statement was meant to be teasing, there was no playful lilt to the voice of the man speaking. Sakura looked up at Neji and gave him a kind smile. "You have been working just as hard as anyone else here. Take a break and clear your mind."

Sakura shook her head softly. "I know there's a way Neji, I just need to look."

Neji shook his head and placed a comforting hand on the young maiden's shoulder. "You remind me of Tenten. She asked about you the other day." Sakura looked up at the man with bright eyes, maybe she was somewhere in Sasuke's kingdom! "She has been sending me letters from Konoha every day, she wants me to tell you that she is working on getting Naruto out. But until then," Neji paused and coughed before gesturing for the princess to come close and whispering in her ear.

Sakura giggled at her old friend's words before bidding him farewell, and turning her attention back to the map. She could imagine every hill, every valley, and every river on the page. The determined princess didn't even notice Sasuke sneak up behind her.

His lips grazed her ear as he spoke. "You are sitting in the King's chair."

Sakura didn't even flinch, she stayed immersed in the map before stating, "Technically every chair in Oto is the King's chair."

Sasuke shook his head, pulled away, and watched the Princess as she observed the map. "Staring at the map will not help you."

Sakura growled and glared at the tall king. "Will you please shut up, I am thinking."

"Something you do not do very often, if it requires so much concentration." Sasuke scoffed before dodging one of the fiery princess's fists.

"You're so infuriating!" Sakura yelled in frustration and threw herself at Sasuke. She pinned him to the ground and locked his wrists to the floor with her hands, her legs straddling his waist. "You are not better than me." Sakura glared at the man beneath her.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and quickly hooked his leg around her waist, flipping their position so that he was on top of her, her hands pinned by his. "And you are not better than me."

Sakura looked into the eyes of the man above her, and locked his gaze in her emerald irises. "But you have always thought that haven't you Sasuke." Sakura looked away from the king. "I have never been enough for you."

Sasuke lost his breath at her words, and scrambled trying to think of something to say. In the end, he stuck with the only thing he could always say to her. "You are the Princess."

"Is that all you can ever say to me?" Sakura howled in frustration and pushed the confused man away from her. "I don't need a reminder of who I am every ten seconds." Sakura took in a deep breath and stood, facing away from the king. "I don't need a reminder of why you can't love me, every time I speak to you."

Before Sasuke could even process her words, the princess was walking out of the war-room. He'd really fucked up this time hadn't he?

.

.

.

_"__Sasuke-kun, will you always be with me?" Sakura whispered quietly as she laid her head on her knight's lap as he read his new novel._

_Sasuke shrugged and continued to read his book, not even looking at the little princess. He was used to this, her always asking meaningful questions randomly._

_Sakura sat up and pouted at the thirteen-year-old before her. "Sasuke-kun!" She demanded vehemently._

_"__Yes Sakura?" Sasuke answered disinterestedly._

_"__Answer my question!" Sakura huffed and pushed her knight's shoulder gently._

_Sasuke sighed and kissed the top of her pink head, pushing the girls' head back onto his lap. "Yes Sakura." He put his book away and pushed strands of hair out of her face. "I will always be with you."_

_Sakura smiled and wrapped her arms around Sasuke's torso, pushing her face into his stomach. "Do knights ever marry Sasuke?" The young princess asked inquisitively as she pulled away from the dark-haired teen._

_Sasuke shook his head in good humor and gave a deep chortle. "Yes Sakura. Some knights marry." He ruffled her hair before picking up his book again._

_"__Do they marry princesses?" She asked expectantly._

_Sasuke choked on his breath as his eyes widened minutely in shock. "Uh, no Sakura they don't." He finally managed after recovering his breath._

_The ten-year-old began to pout once more and crossed her arms angrily. "Why not?!"_

_Sasuke sighed and turned the page of his book. "Because only princes and kings can marry princesses."_

_Sakura stood and turned away from him. "That's stupid."_

_Sasuke resisted a smirk and put the book down to look at the princess. "Why do you care so much?"_

_Sakura's cheeks and neck began to turn red as she kept her eyes on the flower fields the small hill overlooked. "Because… because it is sad that such noble men cannot marry worthy women."_

_Sasuke shook his head slowly and grabbed Sakura's hand. "Come on, let's go riding." He would make sure she forgot all about the 'sad' things she thought of._

_._

_._

_._

Sakura took a deep breath as she knocked on the door of her best friend's home. It was much smaller than her old home in Konoha, but Sakura could still see the hints of her old friend's grandeur.

"Sakura." Ino smiled happily as she embraced the princess. "I knew you'd come to your senses."

Sakura took in her best friend's smell as she squeezed her tightly, before letting go of everything and sobbing into her chest.

.

.

.

Sasuke sighed as he stared at the map on the table, in a similar manner to the young princess before him.

"Where is the Princess?" Kakashi asked with a smile laced in his tone.

Sasuke looked up and glared at the old knight across from him. "She decided to retire for the evening." He didn't even bother to explain why she was retiring.

Shikamaru shook his head and cleared his throat. "In any matter, we should continue on with the strategy."

Sasuke nodded and looked up at his advisors. "Our first priority is to free the King of Konoha and ally the remainder of the King's guard."

The nobles nodded, and Neji held up a hand to be recognized. "How do you propose we do that?"

Sasuke sighed and leaned his head back against his chair. "Danzou and his armies should be heading to Suna in the next few days. At that time he will leave a few trusted guards in charge and the village will virtually be left unguarded. We should be able to sneak in then."

"I do not think that you should join us on this mission King. We should not make the same mistake as Danzou." Neji suggested.

Sasuke nodded. "I agree with you." He turned to Kakashi and Shikamaru. "You two will head the mission, Hyuuga you will stay behind and head the guard around Oto." As soon as Sasuke had agreement from everyone in the room he stood and nodded at his nobles. "Dismissed."

As the nobles filed out of the war room Choji came sprinting up to the King's chair. "Sasuke-san, we have a problem." Sasuke nodded and folded his hands on the table in front of him, as a sign for the noble to continue. "We have not seen sign of the Princess since she left the war room for lunch."

Sasuke sighed as he glanced up at Choji. "She is most likely in her room."

Choji shook his head. "The maids went to prepare her for dinner, and she was not there."

Sasuke hid his scowl behind his hands as he spoke slowly. "Send a couple of guards out to fan the castle."

Choji nodded and quickly walked away before he could face the king's wrath. It was no secret that Uchiha Sasuke was very protective of his old charge. And even now that he was no longer her protector, Choji could feel the barely noticeable waves of anxiety coming off of Sasuke.

.

.

.

"So you just left the castle?" Ino asked incredulously as she gaped at her best friend.

Sakura shrugged as she drank the tea Ino had given her. She had just spent the last few hours spilling the details of what had happened with Sasuke, as well as the overwhelming emotions that had been nagging at her for the past few months.

Ino rolled her eyes and stood to sit next to her best friend on her bed, their backs leaning against the head board. Ino took a contemplative sip of her tea. "He's going to throw a bitch fit."

Sakura shook her head and leaned her head back against the head board in frustration. "Only because it is his duty to make sure I'm safe."

Ino giggled lightly. "Sakura, I've seen Sasuke deal with his duties. The way Sasuke deals with you is most definitely not the same."

"You mean he treats me like even more of a burden?" Sakura snorted in contempt.

Ino pushed Sakura's shoulder and rolled her eyes at her friend. "He's in love with you, he treats you like you're a goddess."

"He treats me like I'm his princess." Sakura sighed and took another sip of her tea, hugging her legs tighter to her chest. "I don't know how to change that, how to make him see me as more than just a duty."

Ino grinned slyly at her friend. "Sakura, you're living in his home. You are in the best position to show Sasuke just why he should want you." Ino winked suggestively.

Sakura giggled as well at the absurdity of her friend's suggestion. "Oh I'm sure that would work Ino." She laughed sarcastically.

Ino glared at her friend's sarcasm. "It would work if you would stop being so prissy about it." Ino leaned her head on her best friend's shoulder. "We'll make that stuck up Uchiha fall in love with you."

.

.

.

Sasuke sat on his throne, eyes closed, head back in frustration. It had been a day since anyone had seen or heard from Sakura. He was two minutes away from going out himself and personally searching every single household in his kingdom.

"Sasuke, we found her." Choji came running into the throne room out of breath.

Sasuke nodded to the noble. "Bring her here." Choji strode out of the throne room and through the tall steel doors. When he came back a small pink mop of hair poked from behind his back. Sasuke gestured for Choji to move aside, and the noble left without another word. Sasuke had to take a deep breath through his nose to keep his jaw from dropping to the ground. Sakura was in an apple green dress with a very low cut bodice that showed off the tops of her breasts. Sasuke could see every swell of the plump flesh, and every little freckle. She should not have been out and about dressed like that. Sasuke stood slowly and took deliberate steps towards the young princess. "Where were you?"

Sakura folded her arms across her chest and turned her head away from him in indignation. "I am a guest Sasuke-san, I can go where I please."

Sasuke glared at the young woman in front of him as he continued his slow pace. "Answer my question Sakura."

Sakura glared right back at the handsome king. "I was at Ino-chan's house."

Sasuke, having finally reached the girl, pulled apart Sakura's arms and stared at the bodice of the princess's dress. "You went to Ino's house dressed like _that_." Sasuke rolled his eyes and once again put his cape around the princess.

Sakura threw the cape off of her shoulders once again. "I can wear whatever I want Sasuke, I am a grown woman."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "A _grown woman_ would know not to go walking the streets of Oto looking so…" Sasuke trailed off and turned away from her.

"Looking so what Sasuke?" Sakura seethed through her teeth as she stomped her foot on the ground.

"Looking so enticing, Sakura." Sasuke growled out as he wrapped a hand around her jaw and bore holes into her eyes. "You act like you want men staring at your… your assets."

Sakura pushed into Sasuke, unafraid of his temper. "And what if I do Sasuke?" Sakura smiled slyly. "What if I want a man to notice my assets?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the object of his attention. "In the King's palace, there is only one man you should be attempting to woo."

Sakura smirked and took another step closer to the king in front of her. "Well maybe that man, should open his eyes." Sakura leaned up to Sasuke's ear and let her lips grace the outer shell. "There has only ever been one man I have ever wanted to woo Sasuke." Sakura pulled away from Sasuke and picked up his cape off of the floor, and tied it around her shoulders. "I assume that you have plans you need to discuss with me about our infiltration of Konoha. I am going up to my room to clean up. I will meet you in the war-room in a couple of hours."

Sasuke stayed shocked in place as the princess waltzed out of the room.


	6. Duty Over Fear

_Sasuke slowly opened his eyes as he felt a pressure on his lap. He'd been taking a nap in the throne room after a long day, when he was woken up by something being placed on his lap. When he saw a flash of bright pink, Sasuke instantly became alert._

_"__Sakura? What are you doing?" His sleepy gruff intoned._

_Sakura giggled and pressed her lips to his neck in a random pattern. "I am 'wooing' you Sasuke-kun." Her tongue darted out to taste the flesh of his throat teasingly._

_Sasuke groaned as his hands gripped her hips. "Don't start something you don't intend to finish Sakura."_

_Sakura smiled brightly at him before leaning forward and pressing her lips to his gently. It wasn't long before Sasuke was licking her lips and begging her to open her mouth up to him. When she did Sasuke took full advantage of the situation and took all that she gave. His hands ran to the middle of her back and pressed her body closer to his. He could feel her every breath and heartbeat, he could feel the heat of her body, he wanted so much more._

_Sasuke pulled away from her mouth and let his lips run up and down her neck, reveling in every moan the princess let out. He opened his mouth and sucked on the skin gently before letting his lips travel down to the top of her breasts. Sasuke pulled back from Sakura and looked at the beautiful woman before him. She was in a short silk kimono, the sleeve falling sensually off of her shoulder. It was then that he'd realized something. It was a dream._

_Fuck._

_._

_._

_._

Sasuke groaned as he jolted awake. He was still in the war-room waiting for Sakura to come down from her room. Sasuke sighed as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. Thank God he hadn't been left with a noticeable 'problem' in his pants this time. Normally when his dreams of Sakura took a turn for the steamy, he'd be left to tear down the tent in his pants. He needed some fresh air. Sasuke stood and walked over to the deck of the war room, looking out as the trees swayed in the afternoon breeze. He took a deep breath of the fresh air, tasting the sun rays on his lips.

Until, unexpectedly smooth skin and long pink hair invaded his vision. She was running through the trees in front of him, her hair back down to her waist like when she was younger. But this time, instead of the princess tiara she normally wore, upon her head was the crown of Otogakure. Sasuke smirked and watched the beautiful woman prancing through the trees ahead of him. She was so beautiful, she was everything he'd ever wanted.

So why couldn't he just tell her? Why couldn't he just say that he loved her? Soon the vision before him disappeared and Sasuke scowled in frustration. Why couldn't he just tell her? They could unite Konoha and Oto together, and form the most powerful alliance in the world. But he just couldn't tell the beautiful woman that he was desperately in love with her.

"Sasuke?" Sakura's beautiful voice called to the king.

Sasuke turned to face her and was riddled with all of the reasons why he couldn't. She had a kingdom to rule, she had her people to save. And if he knew Sakura, he knew her love for him could get in the way of ruling the kingdom, of saving her people. True she had grown, and her priorities were more reasonable, he still could not risk Sakura getting in her own way. It was his duty as her knight, as the man who loved her, to make sure that she accomplished all of her goals. And he would do that before he accomplished his own.

"Sasuke, we should get started." Sakura called as she sat in the chair across from Sasuke's. Sasuke turned to face the enchanting princess and nodded in her direction.

"Nara and Kakashi are heading Naruto's rescue mission. They will be leaving in a few days to infiltrate Konoha while Danzou is out attempting to overthrow Suna." Sasuke traces the paths on the map with his finger as he speaks.

Sakura nods and follows his finger with her eyes. "And how will they infiltrate?"

Sasuke shrugs. "I leave it up to Shikamaru and Kakashi to decide how, I just tell them what."

Sakura nods. "When will they have the plan ready for you to review?"

"Tomorrow." Sasuke finishes. "You and I need to work on your ascension to the throne."

Sakura shook her head and turned to face the forest outside. "I will not be ascending the throne Sasuke."

Sasuke finally sat down in his chair. "And why is that Sakura?"

Sakura took a deep breath and turned to face the king. "Naruto is a better king than I am. He is personable and charismatic, and he will give the people what he need. He is stronger than I am as well." Sakura sighed and glanced longing at Konoha's castle on the map. "I am easily swayed, I may not stand by my beliefs." Sakura took another deep breath. "I am scared to rule, and Naruto is not."

Sasuke shook his head and reached out to grab the princess's hand. "Knowing your weaknesses is exactly why you would make a perfect queen Sakura."

Sakura smiled softly at the king before her. "I am not ready to rule by myself. I am still very sore from my father's death not being resolved." She squeezed Sasuke's the hand that was in hers. "I can't do it by myself Sasuke."

Before he knew it the words were spewing out of his mouth. "What if I was there with you?" His hand tightened around hers.

Sakura's eyes widened in confusion. "How could you do that Sasuke? You have a kingdom to rule now."

Sasuke closed his eyes and let go of Sakura's hand. "You're right." He turned away from her. "So you're saying you could never be Queen."

Sakura shook her head and stood to walk over to Sasuke's chair. She wrapped her hand around his jaw and turned him to face her. "Sasuke-kun listen to me. I'm saying I cannot be Queen of Konoha by myself, right now." She sighed and let her hand drop from his face. "Why do you want me to be Queen so badly?"

Sasuke was quiet for a moment before he finally spoke. "I want you to accomplish your goals Sakura, I want you to have no regrets."

Sakura smiled at the man below her and sank to her knees before his chair. "I have none Sasuke. Even with Danzou taking over, with Naruto being imprisoned." Sakura took his hands in hers. "I know what I am doing."

"But if you had stayed Queen, Danzou would not have been able to overthrow the throne." Sasuke rebutted quickly.

Sakura shrugged and rubbed her thumbs over the back of his hand. "He would have found a way Sasuke. It was just a matter of time." Sakura chuckled lightly. "Maybe he would have tried to marry me or something."

Sasuke's eyes widened and he stood up abruptly. "That's why you are to be enslaved if you step foot in Konoha." Sasuke growled lowly. "He thinks you are in Suna, that's why he's taking an army there."

Sakura looked at Sasuke confused, and frustrated that he had ruined her moment. "Sasuke what are you talking about?"

Sasuke turned to glare at her. "If Danzou were to marry you, then the people could not overthrow him as King. He would be a part of the Haruno family. He would be connected to the throne by blood."

Sakura shrugged and turned to look back at the map. "It's a good thing I am here in Oto, and he doesn't know." She turned to smile at him shyly. "It's a good thing you are here to protect me."

Sasuke scowled and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her closer to him. "And If I can't protect you?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him. "Then I will protect myself." She stare him down vehemently as he glared at her armor-clad form.

Sasuke leaned his forehead against hers. "And if neither of us can, if you are forced to marry Danzou?"

Sakura shook her head and blinked up at him. "Have confidence in us Sasuke. We can do anything." She smiled brightly.

"In us?" Sasuke echoed quietly.

Sakura smiled and leaned forward slightly to press her lips to his cheek. "Yes Sasuke-kun. In us."

Sasuke smirked and took her face in his hands. "You missed." The king pressed his lips to the princess's feverishly before she could question anything else.

He would have confidence in them. He would have confidence in his love for Sakura.

.

.

.

_"__Sasuke, this is your Princess, Sakura-chan." The Queen smiled softly at the young knight, as she pushed a shy pink-haired toddler in front of him._

_Sasuke bowed gently before the tiny pink-haired princess. "It is my pleasure to serve you Princess."_

_The toddler smiled and grabbed onto Sasuke's shirt excitedly. "Play! Play!" She screamed, bouncing up and down._

_Sasuke sighed and looked up at the Queen, as she ushered him to go and play with the tiny princess. Needless to say the young knight followed the tiny princess to her play room at waddling pace, with the Queen quietly following behind them._

_Two hours, and a hair full of toddler slobber later, it was time for the princess's nap. "Bye bye Sasuke-kun." Sakura smiled brightly and placed a slobbery kiss on the knight's face._

_Sasuke scowled and angrily wiped the spit off of his visage as he watched the Queen take her daughter away._

_"__Thank you for being so patient Sasuke." The powerful voice of the King sounded as he placed a hand on the young knight's shoulder. "It is your duty to protect my daughter. And I know you will protect her with everything you have."_

_Sasuke smiled at the King's approval and nodded his head. "I will protect her with my life."_

_._

_._

_._

Sakura pulled away from Sasuke's kiss breathless and rested her hands on his chest. "Sasuke-kun?" She asked quietly.

Sasuke smirked and pressed his face into the crook of her neck. "Hm?"

"What was that for?" Sakura ran her fingers through his hair.

Sasuke leaned up and pressed another sweet kiss to her lips, before he opened his mouth to answer her question. "I-"

"Sasuke-san, we have a bit of a problem." Kiba said breathless as he burst into the war room. When he noticed the position his King was in, Kiba stopped in his tracks. "Oh, uh sorry man."

Sasuke pulled away from Sakura and kissed her forehead once. "What is your reason for coming here?" The king asked, finally turning to face the intruder.

Kiba rubbed the back of his head nervously. "There was an infiltration on the wall. The guards are checking to see where they messed up, but there was no trace of a break-in."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the noble as he pulled his arms completely away from the princess. "Then how do you know that there was an infiltration?"

Kiba held up a scroll and handed it to the king. "This was found at headquarters."

Sasuke took the scroll and quickly opened it, then reading its contents. "Go take your clan and search the borders. Keep the guards alert by refreshing units more often. I want to know how this got in." Kiba nodded and quickly left the room.

Sakura walked up to Sasuke and took the scroll from his hands before reading the contents, and dropping the scroll to the ground.

_Blood is red,_

_Cherry Blossoms are pink,_

_You thought I was dead,_

_But I'm much closer than you think._

_-Orochimaru-Sensei_


	7. Duty Over Concern

"Sakura, we need to remain calm." Sasuke spoke slowly as he watched Sakura's eyes widen.

"Sasuke, we don't even know how he got in!" Her voice raised a few octaves as the young princess began to pace around the war-room.

Sasuke gripped Sakura by the shoulders and looked the young woman in the eyes. "Sakura, calm down. Go upstairs to your room. My guards will watch over you."

Sakura nodded numbly, but as Sasuke turned to walk away she grabbed onto his sleeves. "Where are you going?"

Sasuke squeezed the hand on his sleeve gently. "I'm going down to the wall and checking the perimeters myself." He kissed her forehead. "I will come back to you when it is safe."

"Sasuke-kun, let me go with you." She continued to grip onto his sleeves.

Sasuke shook his head and pulled her arms off of his sleeves. "You will stay here." He said firmly. "You will wait for me in your room. And you will stay on your guard no matter what."

Sakura nodded and brushed past the king without another word. Sasuke sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He would make sure she was safe before he let her love him.

.

.

.

_Sasuke panted as he continued to run around the forest. Where could she be? He'd just let the princess out of his sight for a moment and when he'd turned back to her she was gone. He knew it was a bad idea for them to play in the forests outside of the castle wall, he shouldn't have let her convince him otherwise._

_"__Sakura!" He called desperately into the trees, silently thanking God that it was still day time. The young knight growled in frustration when he got no response._

_Sasuke kept running, stopping every once in a while to scan his surroundings for fresh evidence of the princess's passing. Finally he caught sight of a pink strand of hair swaying in a tree branch. Sasuke sucked in a painful breath and quickly followed the direction the strand led._

_"__Sakura!" He called again as he continued to follow the small hints of the princess's whereabouts. Sasuke's legs began to increase in speed as he heard the small whimpers of his charge. "Sakura can you hear me?" He yelled into the sunset before him. He had to find her soon, before it got dark._

_Soon Sasuke could hear Sakura's cries for help clearly, he knew he was close, why couldn't his legs go any faster? Then he saw it. Sakura was on the ground kicking and screaming, a large man hovering over her, her skirt pushed up to her bodice._

_He saw red before he could think, and threw himself at the man above her. Faintly he could remember the princess screaming his name, but he couldn't process it. All he could think about was making sure that this man never saw the light of day ever again. Before either of them knew it Sasuke was on top of the offender beating his face into the ground._

_"__Sasuke-kun! Stop!" Sakura cried out to her knight, but to no avail. He was no longer Sasuke, he was a monster whose only desire was to protect the girl he loved._

_At last, when his knuckles were stained with blood and he could no longer feel the offenders breath beneath him, Sasuke stopped. He took a deep breath and stood from the bloody pulp of a man on the ground._

_"__Sasuke-kun, I can't get up." Sakura whimpered, choking on her tears._

_The young knight shook his head, trying to clear his rage enough to help the princess. When the world was no longer red Sasuke turned to look at his princess. She was sprawled all over the forest floor, dress torn apart and long hair tangled in the bramble below. Quickly, realizing that she was exposed, Sasuke knelt beside his princess and lifted her in his arms in an attempt to carry her back home._

_"__Ow! Sasuke-kun stop, stop!" She cried, hitting him on the chest. Immediately the teen laid the girl back down and frantically looked for the source of her pain. "My hair, it's tangled."_

_Sasuke glanced down at the hair tangled in the bushes and began to try and unknot the mass. "Sakura, it's not coming untangled."_

_Sakura began to sob even more. "It hurts Sasuke-kun."_

_Sasuke pulled his hands away from her hair and took a moment to calm himself down. He needed to think rationally to get her out of this mess. For a moment he examined her knotted hair, and the branches it was tangled in. It could take hours to unknot the mass behind her. So he did the only thing he could think to do, he quietly unsheathed his sword._

_"__Sakura, I'm sorry." He mumbled quietly and quickly sliced through the knots until her hair was freed. Gently he took his cape off of his shoulders and wrapped it around her exposed form. "Let's get you home Princess." Sasuke picked up the mess of a princess in his arms and cradled her head against his shoulder as he took her back to the castle._

_"__I love you Sasuke-kun." The girl sobbed quietly as she dug her face into his shoulder._

_I love you too. The young knight thought as he kissed her forehead and picked up his pace. The sun was setting quickly, and he promised to never let the young princess suffer like this again._

_._

_._

_._

None of this made sense. How was Orochimaru still alive? Sakura groaned in frustration as she looked outside of her window. It was sunset, and she was quickly reminded of that fateful day Sasuke saved her life. She knew he would do it again, but it didn't mean she wasn't nervous.

Sakura sighed as she laid her forehead on her knees. She couldn't figure out why Orochimaru was still alive, or why Danzou suddenly wanted to overthrow the throne. Maybe they connected to each other. Sakura's head shot up as she got an idea. She threw herself off of the window seat and to the door of her room. Kabuto's notes were still in the lab/garden, she could go through them and figure out what Orochimaru was last working on.

The pink-haired princess flew past the guards and to the garden, not giving it a second thought. If Sasuke wouldn't let her go to the palace wall, then she would do all she could in the castle to figure out what was going on.

.

.

.

Sasuke sighed as he rubbed his neck in frustration. He'd spent hours at the wall with his top advisors, and they couldn't figure out how Orochimaru had gotten past his defenses. They were air tight. Finally they had decided that it had to be someone from the inside. And now the king had to dispense more soldiers as each of his guards went through thorough mind analysis with his top interrogator. He took a deep breath. This was going to be hell.

Night had fallen and the castle was bathed in candle light as Sasuke approached the princess's door. But he paused before he could knock. Where were the guards? Hastily Sasuke threw open her bedroom and began tearing her room apart.

"Sakura." He called harshly into the room as he threw her bed sheets into the air. "This is not a fucking game. Get out here right now." He growled into the bathroom before realizing she was not there. Angrily the King of Oto stalked into the hallway, marching in a random direction. When he found her, he was going to lock her in his room and throw away the damned key.

"Sasuke-san!" Someone called behind him. Sasuke turned to face Kiba as he came running down the hallway, and stopped him with his sword to the noble's throat.

"Where is the princess?" He asked slowly as he watched Kiba's eyes widen in shock.

Kiba instantly put his hands in the air. "She ran out of her room to the garden and the guards followed her down there, they haven't left her since."

Sasuke stepped closer to the frightened noble and gave him his infamous glare. "If one hair on her head is misplaced, you will be introduced to Otogakure as the Princess's personal eunuch." Sasuke withdrew the sword and sheathed it on his belt. "Are we clear?"

Kiba nodded and slowly lowered his hands. "Crystal."

Sasuke continued to stalk down the hallway to the gardens. He'd told her to stay in her room. His scientists had not yet cleared everything in the garden, what if she spilled something and was injured? The king's legs picked up speed as he began to sprint towards the garden. As soon as he found her, all hell was going to break loose.

When he reached the entrance he glared at the guards. "Do not come in unless I specifically call you." They nodded in understanding and Sasuke continued on into the glass dome.

"Subject four seems to be responding to the chemical similarly to subjects one, two, and three…" Sakura trailed off as she continued reading to herself.

Sasuke took an unnoticeable sigh of relief as he saw her pink head peeking over the top of the book. But as he glanced around at his surroundings he was quickly reminded of his anger. Silently he stalked to the chair she was sitting in and wrapped a hand around her mouth, pulling her from the chair.

The princess's eyes widened and she began to struggle to get out of the intruder's grasp. But to no avail, Sasuke was much stronger and kept an excellent grip around the tiny princess's body.

"I thought I told you to stay in your room." Sasuke put his lips to her ear and let his tongue out to taste the cartilage of her ear.

Sakura calmed down as she recognized the king's voice. She tried to retaliate to his inquiry, until she realized Sasuke's hand was still over her mouth. The pink-haired princess reached up to pull his hand off of her mouth, but the hand over her mouth only tightened.

"What if I was one of Orochimaru's experiments that hadn't been cleared out of the garden?" He put his lips to the other ear. "What if I was Orochimaru himself?" He pulled her body back into his and tightened his grip around her. "I could do whatever I wanted to you, and you would not be able to do anything about it."

Angrily Sakura tried to bite his hand, but Sasuke simply cupped his hand around her mouth so she could not reach his skin. So Sakura decided to lick his hand instead.

Sasuke chuckled and pressed a kiss to her neck. "You think I am afraid of your saliva?"

Sakura groaned angrily as she prepared herself to resign to the king's desires. But when she felt something hard dig into her back Sakura saw her chance for escape. She leaned back and rubbed her backside into the bulge behind her.

Instantly Sasuke's hand reached down from her mouth to her hip to still her movements. "Sakura don't."

Sakura giggled and ground into his hips again. "Why not Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke growled as he pulled her against him tighter and took her ear into his mouth. "Because you are in my palace." His mouth moved to her neck and he began to suck on the flesh there. "And I am not beyond taking advantage of my guests."

Sakura's breath got caught in her throat as he continued to mark her neck. She shivered when he pulled his mouth away and tried to lean into his warmth, when he gently bit her neck.

"Why are you not in your room?" The king's voice was clear of any playfulness as he demanded answers from the princess.

Sakura took a deep breath as she cleared her head of her arousal. "I… I was studying Kabuto's experiment notes to try and figure out what is going on."

"And you thought it was important to do that now." He fingers rubbed her hip bone gently. "When there is a mad man on the loose, and you are in his laboratory?"

Sakura rolled her eyes as she tried to hold back a moan. "I… I just wanted to help."

Sasuke sighed and kissed the top her head before pulling away from her. "I know Sakura." He took a deep breath. "Right now, I just need you to listen to me. This is a dangerous situation, and-"

Sakura shook her head before cutting him off. "Sasuke-kun, you don't know how dangerous this situation is." Sasuke looked at her in confusion for a moment before nodding for her to continue. Sakura took one of the notebooks off of the table and opened it up. "Before you took over, Kabuto was working on a 'body possession injection'. So far, from what I've read, it seems that he's gotten pretty close to figuring out how to make it work. In theory all he or Orochimaru would have to do is get close enough to inject a person with the virus, and be able to control their body."

Sasuke took in another deep breath as he resisted the urge to destroy something. This was a lot more complicated than he had originally thought. He took Sakura by the hand and led her to the entrance of the garden. Once there he gestured for a guard to come to him.

"Tell Neji to pull in all of the guards behind or on the wall. No one is to be outside of it. If any guard comes into contact with a civilian, they will keep their distance entirely. Any guards stationed outside of the wall in the past twenty four hours will be contained in the interrogation rooms." Sasuke informed the guard, who nodded and took off running into the corridor. Sasuke turned to the other guard and gestured for him to follow the king.

"Sasuke-kun where are we going?" Sakura asked quietly as he pulled her through the long corridors of the castle.

Sasuke said nothing as they continued down the halls before stopping in front of a door. The king turned to the guard and let go of Sakura's arm. "Keep alert." He pulled Sakura into the room and locked the door behind the two of them.

Sakura gaped as she stared at the room around them. The giant arched ceiling peaked right where a gold chandelier hung into the room, illuminating the space. A large fluffy bed sat in the corner of the room, decorated with deep red curtains around the bedposts. Rugs and tapestries adorned the walls and floors ranging from deep reds to greys and blacks.

"This is my room. You will sleep here tonight." Sasuke stated as he closed the curtains of his bedroom.

Nervously Sakura stood frozen in her spot. "Why?" She managed quietly as she watched the handsome king strip himself of his armor.

Sasuke turned to smirk at the young princess as he unbuttoned his shirt. "Because I do not trust you to stay in a room by yourself." He dropped his shirt to the ground. "I would like to keep an eye on you myself."

Sakura gulped slowly as she watched her love's muscles ripple with every movement. He was most definitely built for being a warrior, and she wasted no time in committing each muscle to memory.

"Like it?" The king asked as he slowly meandered to the flustered princess.

"L-like what?" Sakura stuttered slowly, sounding a lot like her friend Hinata.

Sasuke's smirk widened as he gestured to his room. "My room of course."

Sakura took a deep breath and shook her head a little bit. "Uhm, yeah. Of course I like your room." Sakura turned away from the ridiculously attractive male. "So… where am I sleeping?" Sakura asked slowly.

Sasuke shook his head good humoredly as he stripped out of his pants. "With me, in my bed Sakura."

.

.

.

_"__Sasuke-chan, go back to sleep." Mikoto spoke softly as her son bounded into his parent's bedroom._

_Sasuke shook his head as he clutched his blanket closer to his body. "Itachi-nii is taking all of the blankets."_

_Mikoto giggled quietly, as not to wake her sleeping husband. She stretched her arms out to her youngest son and gestured for him to climb into bed with her. "Well come on then."_

_Sasuke grinned widely as he jumped into his mother's arm and rested his cheek against her breast. He'd had a long day out in the garden helping his mother pick the fall crops before the snow set in. And tomorrow his mother had promised him he would meet the princess. The small boy would need as much sleep as possible. He yawned slowly and closed his eyes. "Thank you Kaa-san."_

_Mikoto nodded and kissed the top of her son's head. "Sleep tight Sasuke-chan."_


	8. Duty Over Want

_Author's Note: I do apologize for the delayed update. Life happened. Updates will not be as quick as they had been over summer, but I will attempt to update regularly. Thank you to my faithful readers, I hope you enjoy._

Sasuke took a deep relaxing breath as he let his muscles sink further into his bed. When he had told Sakura that she was going to share a bed with him he had not anticipated his own arousal. From his count it had been about three hours since he and Sakura had laid down to sleep. But the king was getting no sleep whatsoever. Sakura had been tossing and turning all night, and Sasuke spent the whole night trying to keep distance between himself and the princess's enticing body. He knew that if he got near the minx of a princess, her body would instantly pull him in and he wouldn't be able to stop himself from doing something they'd both regret.

So the king rose from the bed slowly and made his way over to the chaise by the window with an extra pillow and blanket. He was not going to ruin his chances with the beautiful princess now that he had her in his grasp.

Finally in a bed of his own, Sasuke shut his eyes and slowly drifted off into a light sleep as he kept his eye on the pink-haired princess.

.

.

.

_"Sasuke, you will be staying with Sakura in her room tonight. The Queen and I are throwing a ball downstairs and we need someone to watch over her." The King spoke as he oversaw the preparations for his ball. "She will be very upset, as I am sure you know. But she needs to stay in her room the entire night."_

_Sasuke nodded as he bowed before the King. "I will keep the princess safe."_

_The King chuckled and smiled at the young knight. "Good luck kid."_

_Sasuke shook his head as he wandered through the halls to Sakura's room. The King seemed to think that he was incapable of containing the pink-haired banshee. But he knew better. One threat and a promise to set her bunnies on fire was all it took to shut the tiny princess up. Sasuke smirked to himself. It would be too easy to get his charge to go to sleep that night. He had her in the palm of his hand._

_"I WILL NOT GO TO SLEEP!" Sakura wailed from the inside of her room. Sasuke sighed as he heard thumps and rustles from within the door as a frantic maid attempted to convince the princess to sleep._

_The young knight took a deep breath before opening the door to the princess's room and starting his quest. "Sakura shut up." Sasuke groused as he took in the sight before him. The princess was standing on top of her bureau throwing stuffed animals at three maids, who were shielding their faces. Clothes were strewn all over the floor, and the princess was seconds away from breaking the mirror behind her. The maids looked at Sasuke like he was their savior and sped out of the room before they could be pelted again. "Sakura get down." Sasuke demanded._

_"No." Sakura crossed her arms and stuck her chin in the air._

_"Sakura get down." Sasuke repeated again with more force._

_Sakura shook her head and threw a stuffed bunny at the dark-haired boy. "No!"_

_Sasuke easily caught the bunny in his hand and glared at the princess. "Get down or fluffy butt here is taking a trip to the oven."_

_Sakura stuck her tongue out at her knight. "Liar! You can't do that, cause I'll tell my daddy on you and he'll kick your butt!"_

_Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Then I'll go downstairs and tell all of the people from all of the kingdoms that the Princess of Konoha is one huge brat." Sasuke enunciated slowly._

_Sakura narrowed her eyes at him. "You wouldn't."_

_"Ah, but I would." Sasuke smirked at the tiny princess._

_Sakura crossed her arms again and turned away from Sasuke. "They wouldn't believe you."_

_Sasuke nodded his head. "Yes they would. I am the Princess's personal knight, I watch you every day. It means I am trustworthy."_

_Sakura screamed and stomped her foot before jumping off of the bureau. "You are a grumpy pants."_

_Sasuke rolled his eyes again before pointing to the bed. "Just shut up and go to bed brat."_

_Sakura shook her head. "No." She paused for a moment before looking down at the floor. "I'm scared to sleep by myself."_

_Sasuke sighed angrily. "Sakura you sleep by yourself every night."_

_Sakura shook her head. "Na uh! Mommy and Daddy always let me sleep in their bed!"_

_The young knight growled angrily. "Fine! If I go to sleep with you will you shut up and do what you are told?"_

_Sakura nodded happily before throwing herself into her large pink bed. "Thank you Sasuke-kun!"_

_Sasuke climbed into bed with the five-year old Sakura after turning out her lights and pulled the blankets over the both of them. "Good night princess."_

_Sakura yawned happily and hugged her knight close to her. "Good night Sasuke-kun!"_

_Sasuke glared at the tiny princess, and was about to protest when her eyes closed slowly. He could let the princess hold him for one night he supposed._

_._

_._

_._

Sakura sighed dreamily as she stretched her arms above her head. Last night she had the best dream about Sasuke. She smiled and turned on her side to face the love of her life. Only to be met with the sight of endless pillows. The princess bolted up in bed and glanced around her room. Where was her knight in shining armor?

"Sasuke?" Sakura called into the empty room as she continued looking. But she found no sign her knight. Sakura growled in frustration and threw her head back into the pillows. She was hoping to wake Sasuke up that morning with soft kisses, and leave him wanting her all day. Sure he'd kissed her a few times and told her he needed to protect her. But that was no declaration of love, and that was what she'd needed for the longest of times.

Sakura took a deep breath and got up to get ready. She would get her knight to profess his love to her, and they could live happily ever after.

.

.

.

_"Sasuke-kun." Sakura giggled playfully as he trailed kisses down her neck. "You were supposed to take Itachi-chan out riding today."_

_Sasuke ran his tongue along her smooth neck. "He's outside playing with Naruto right now." His hand slowly made its way up her thigh and past her hip._

_Sakura moaned slowly as he sucked the skin on her neck. "But Sasuke-kun, you promised."_

_Sasuke chuckled lowly as he continued to kiss along her neck. "I think he will be just fine Sakura." The king began to pull down the top of Sakura's dress and slowly began to kiss the exposed skin. "And besides, I promised you we would get to have another 'Itachi-chan'."_

_Sakura took in a deep breath as she tried to control her moans. "What if he comes looking for us?" She said breathlessly._

_"Then I will tell him to find Dobe." He growled as he continued to run his mouth over the beautiful woman beneath him._

_Sakura giggled as she pulled the king's face up to hers. "When will you ever stop calling him Dobe?"_

_Sasuke shrugged and kissed her nose before pulling her body as close to his as possible. "When he stops being a dobe."_

_Sakura shook her head and hastily pulled her dress back into position as she heard the pitter patter of little feet running towards the door._

_"Okaa!" A mini-Sasuke came running into the sun room and flew into his mother's arms. "Naruto-dobe said that Otou kidnapped you and made you marry him!"_

_Sasuke smirked and reached out to grab his son from his mother's arms. "Well that's why he's a dobe."_

_Sakura angrily glared at the door that Naruto stood in before kissing her son's cheek softly. "No Itachi-chan, Otou saved me." Sakura smiled softly at the king before turning to glare back at the man in the doorway._

_._

_._

_._

Sasuke groaned frustrated as he shook himself awake from his small nap. Again with these erotic dreams of Sakura. He'd been having them all night and had hardly gotten any sleep because of it.

"Sasuke-san." Shikamaru called impatiently as he waved his hand in front of Sasuke's face. When Sasuke finally looked over to the brown-haired noble, the Nara began to speak once again. "I have been trying to tell you about the rescue mission for the past two hours and you've been out of it."

Sasuke sighed before speaking. "Please continue. I will listen this time." Sasuke waved his hand for the man to continue.

When the meeting was over Sasuke stayed in the war-room, leaning back in his chair to rest some more. He really needed to clear his head and get some rest.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura called softly into the room.

Sasuke didn't even look up as she walked into the room softly. Even just looking at her might be enough to set him off.

"Sasuke-kun, are you alright?" Her gentle voice called to him as she put her hand on his shoulder.

Sasuke grunted and kept his eyes on the ceiling. He would not let his eyes follow the sound of that wondrous voice.

Sakura sighed and came around to the front of his chair. She placed her hands on either side of his face and leaned her forehead against his. "What's wrong?"

Sasuke closed his eyes as he took in the summertime smell of the beautiful princess in front of him. He could feel he warmth of her body radiating towards him, pulling him into her. He pulled her hands away from his face and abruptly stood from his chair. "I'm fine."

Shocked at his blatant refusal of her affection Sakura clenched her fists as she addressed the king. "Don't lie to me Sasuke."

Sasuke turned to face her and looked her directly in those captivating green eyes. "I'm tired Sakura."

Sakura sighed in slight relief at his words and honesty, before wrapping her arms around his waist. "Well get some rest Sasuke-kun." She kissed his chest as he stood stock still before her. "I am a strategist, and between Kakashi and I we can devise a plan to retrieve Naruto."

Sasuke strained to speak as he tried to keep himself still, and all thoughts off of the princess holding onto him. He could not afford to get… aroused right now. "That is not necessary."

Sakura smiled up at him before realizing he was not looking at her. Forcefully she took his face into her hands and made her look at him. "Sasuke-kun please tell me what's wrong."

Sasuke sighed heavily, feeling the second brain in his pants begin to get excited. He pushed the girl away from him, and spoke quickly as she pouted at him. "Sakura, you're…" He groaned in frustration. "You're arousing me."

Sakura giggled and threw herself at the king before her. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she pulled his face down to hers. "Well then let's do something about that Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke growled in frustration pulling the girl away from him. "Sakura I will not have sex with you."

Sakura huffed angrily and crossed her arms across her chest with a hurt look on her face. "I see." Sakura took one last glance at the king before stalking to the door. "I will see you tonight for dinner."

Sasuke sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. Why couldn't he just communicate with the pink haired temptress?

.

.

.

"Ino, it's not working." Sakura sighed as she helped her best friend to trim the leaves of the foliage in her garden. "He's not responding to anything I do the way that you said he would."

Ino rolled her eyes and continued to cut at the foliage. "Sakura, just be happy with the fact that he kissed you."

Sakura huffed angrily and glared at her best friend. "I am happy that he kissed me, and I'm not asking for more." The young princess trailed off as she continued to cut away at the foliage.

"But…" Ino prompted as she stopped her ministrations to glance at her best friend.

"But I want him to want me the way I've wanted him for years." Sakura sighed and leaned down to smell the flower before her.

The blonde noble smiled at her friend softly before pulling her into a hug. "Just be patient." Ino kissed the top of her friend's head and pulled away before continuing her work. "Besides, I don't know why you are complaining. Every girl has wanted Sasuke since the beginning of time, and here you are living in his palace and being smooched by the most attractive king of any nation ever." Ino winked at her friend. "Take advantage of it Princess."

Sakura rolled her eyes and continued to trim the branches before her. "Ino, being in love with Sasuke is not something women should envy."

"And why is that Sakura?" Ino rolled her eyes in response.

"Because he's not affectionate, he's not smooth with his words." Sakura sighed again and put the trimming tools on the ground. "He takes advantage of what is in front of him and turns away from it."

Ino put her tools on the ground as well and sat next to them before patting the spot next to her for her friend to sit down on. "No man ever realizes what he has until it is gone."

Sakura leaned her head on her friend's shoulder. "And what a shame it is that I am stuck in his palace until this war is over."

Ino shook her head and pushed the young princess off of her. "That's where my creative wiles come into play."

.

.

.

Sasuke ran his hands through his hair angrily as he observed the interrogations. They'd only been able to get through a dozen of the men on duty, and his guards were getting exhausted with their elongated shifts. If only he hadn't of had to send out a squad to get the Dobe, then maybe things would have gone by at a quicker pace.

But that wasn't the king's only problem at the moment. Sakura had once again run off to Ino's house and he hadn't seen her since that afternoon. He had been worried when night began to fall and had sent a few of his guards out to escort her home when she was ready. He couldn't risk her getting ambushed at night, and she just didn't seem to understand that the streets of Otogaukure were not as safe as the streets from her home kingdom. Sasuke sighed once again in frustration.

"Sasuke-san." Ibiki called to the distracted king. Sasuke inclined his head in response, prompting him to continue. "We think we found the link. We have a couple more guards to go, but at this point we should be able to continue without your presence."

Sasuke inspected his top interrogator to make sure that he had not been overcome by the same toxins his guards had been exposed to. "I will stay until the end of the interrogations. Please continue."

The interrogator nodded in response and returned to the task at hand, leaving the king to his thoughts.

The young king leaned his back against the wall behind him and took in a deep breath. All he wanted was to hold Sakura right now, and know that for the time being, she was his. But he couldn't do that. He wouldn't do it. He had to make sure that the princess was safe and then he could pursue her whole-heartedly. Sasuke smirked to himself. She thought that he didn't want her sexually, but if only she knew the things he wanted to do to her.


	9. Duty Over Lover

_AN: Once again sorry for the late update and unedited chapters. I hope the longer chapter makes up for it!_

This could not be happening. Sasuke growled in frustration as he threw a punch into Sakura's wall. Sakura had been avoiding him for three days now and he couldn't contain his rage as he resisted the urge to order his guards to bring her to him. She was purposefully avoiding him! That little temptress was going to get the full brunt of his anger the next time he saw her. And he would have to do it soon. Kakashi and Shikamaru were due back any day now with the dobe from Konoha, and he knew he would lose all time with her when they were around.

Sasuke stalked out of the princess's room and turned to the guard beside him. "Where is she?"

The guard turned to the king and bowed out of respect. "She is in the garden overseeing the testing of the infected guards."

Sasuke grunted and gestured the guard away from him. Not only was the annoying princess avoiding him, she was putting herself in danger. Heaven knows what those guards were commanded to do by Orochimaru. This was the final straw, Sakura was officially going to get whatever punishment came her way. Especially after the incident a few evenings ago.

.

.

.

_Sakura sat quietly eating her dinner as Sasuke stared at her across the dining table. He hadn't seen or heard from her since their fight that afternoon, and now here she was eating away like he didn't exist. He wanted to talk to her, to tell her about how he really felt. But if she was going to ignore him and pretend like he didn't exist, then he was not going to give her what she wanted._

_"Sakura." Sasuke called authoritatively, making sure she could hear the command in his voice. But she did not respond, she ignored him as she continued to eat her food. "Sakura." He called again, this time more forcefully._

_But once again the princess did not answer. Sasuke looked up at the head maid and bore holes into his eyes. "You all are dismissed for dinner." Quickly the maids filed out of the dining hall until it was only the King and the Princess._

_"Sakura, you will answer me." The frustrated Uchiha said lowly. But still the princess would not be moved to even glance the king's way. Angrily Sasuke stood from his chair and stalked over to the tiny princess and stood behind her chair. He let his hands rest on her shoulders as his lips ran along the expanse of her neck. "Sakura." He called to her softly._

_The princess trembled in his touch, but still did not acknowledge him as she tried to continue with her dinner._

_The king sighed heavily as he let his hands trail down her shoulders to her ribs. "Sakura, if you do not tell me to stop, I will continue." His lips found the shell of her ear as he spoke softly into the cartilage._

_Quickly the young princess stood from her position in her chair and pushed the king away from her. She quickly stormed out of the dining hall without another word, and left the king alone with his bruised ego._

_._

_._

_._

Sakura sighed as she heard the guard before her scream in utter agony. This had been the third test today, and they still hadn't found an antidote to cure the guards from their infection. She had been working with Sasuke's top scientists since early that morning to try and figure out a way to clear the toxin from their system, but it just seemed that Orochimaru's toxin was indestructible.

"Alright, that's enough." Sakura called to the scientists. "I will re-formulate a new antidote, in the mean-time you are to take him to the isolation room and tend to his needs." She smiled softly at them. "I need him to be comfortable for the next test." The scientists nodded and bowed in response before wheeling the guard out of the testing site.

Sakura sighed and rolled her neck, trying to stretch out her body. She hadn't been able to sleep much since her and Sasuke's argument, and she was beginning to feel the effects of her lack of rest. She felt so guilty for leaving Sasuke all alone, but Ino had assured her that this was the only way to win the king's affections.

The young princess smiled to herself as she thought of the frustrated howl she had heard from Sasuke when she had locked herself in her room the first night. She had done a great job of not responding to the king's advances. The pinkette was so wrapped up in her thoughts she did not hear the quiet sound of boots on tile as the King stalked behind her. Before she knew it hands were on her hips and pulling her into a large body.

Sasuke did not speak as he ran his lips along her neck and caged her body with his arms. His hands roamed from her belly up to her ribs and over her breasts as he continued to kiss her neck. He was going to get a rise out of her no matter what. He lifted her up and laid her on the table in front of them before pulling the sleeve of her dress off of her shoulder.

"Sasuke!" Sakura squeaked as she attempted to pull the sleeve back up. "Someone will see us!" She hissed quietly as she tried to control the sounds threatening to come out of her mouth.

"So she speaks." The King mumbled quietly as he continued to kiss the exposed flesh of her neck and shoulders.

Sakura angrily kicked at the king above her in an attempt to push him away from her, and got up trying to get away from the lecherous man. But Sasuke was much quicker than the princess and pinned her down to the floor before she could get too far.

"No." He grunted out as he pushed her onto the floor. The King held her arms above her head with one of his hands before straddling her waist. "Why have you been avoiding me?"

Sakura looked away from the king before she spoke. "I haven't been avoiding you."

Sasuke growled angrily before pulling her to look at him. "Yes you have. And it's stupid." His eyes pleaded with hers as he begged her to answer him. "Why?"

Sakura tried to wriggle out of his grasp when her thigh brushed against a fleshy hard part of Sasuke's anatomy. Suddenly remembering why she was angry with him in the first place, Sakura fixed him with a stare, but did not answer.

Sasuke sighed and let his head fall onto her chest in defeat. "Just tell me why." He mumbled quietly into her clothes.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "It's not like we had a fight or anything before."

Sasuke's head shot up as he looked into her eyes. "Really? You're upset because I said I wouldn't have sex with you?" Sakura once again turned her face away from him in embarrassment as her cheeks turned red. In response the handsome king's chest rumbled with the tiniest trace of a chuckle. "Annoying."

Sakura huffed in indignation at him. "Irritating!" She shouted back as she once again tried to rip her hands away from his.

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow amusedly at the girl beneath him before putting his lips to her ear. "Do you want to have sex with me Sakura?" He breathily dragged her name out as he spoke to her.

Sakura's breath caught in her throat as she tried to slowly answer his question, but as his mouth found her neck she couldn't find the words to say anything. She tried to bring her face to his for a kiss, but his mouth kept avoiding hers as he worked on her neck.

"Do you know what sex means Sakura?" Sasuke drawled lazily as he pulled away to look at her.

Sakura looked at him incredulously. "Of course I know what it means Sasuke! I am not an imbecile!"

Sasuke smirked down at her. "So you are okay with me taking you right here," his hand ran down the line between her breasts, "right now."

Sakura sucked in a breath as she turned her face away from him. "Not here."

Sasuke leaned away from her and looked into the princess's eyes. "Then you are not ready." He kissed her forehead, but kept his grip on her hands. "I will not taint you." He kissed her cheek. "You are the princess, you will be pure." Finally he kissed her nose.

"That's why Sasuke? Because I'm the princess?" She huffed angrily as she forced back the tears threatening to flow.

Sasuke shook his head and let go of her hands, but kept his weight over her. "Don't be an idiot Sakura." He put his lips to her ear. "Because you are important to me, I will not taint you." The young king watched as the gears began to shift in her head, and everything clicked for the young princess.

Sakura smiled sweetly up at the man above her before pressing a soft kiss to his lips. "You care for me Sasuke?"

Sasuke scowled at her before standing. "Do not make me repeat myself."

Sakura shook her head and stood before her love and warily observed his armor-clad form. She really did love this man with all of her heart, it was a shame he didn't notice. So the pink-haired princess took a few small deliberate steps towards the king and put a gentle hand on the side of his face. "I love you Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke glanced at her for a moment before pulling away. "You've said that many times before Sakura. I know."

Sakura took a breath to calm herself, trying to see the world from his standpoint. "Why do you not believe in my love for you?" She asked slowly, trying not to startle him with such a loaded question.

The dark-haired king shrugged and kept his gaze away from the princess. "It is time for dinner, we should go." But before he could make a move to the door Sakura had wrapped her arms snugly around his waist, her face pressed into his chest-plate.

"Sasuke-kun, I love you more then you will ever know." The young princess began slowly. "I love you more than I have ever loved anyone else, longer than I have ever loved anyone else." She looked up and pressed a sweet kiss to his cheek. "I will not give up on my love for you, and I will not accept you pushing it aside like it means nothing." Her hands slid around to the front of his body to rest on his chest. "If we are going to continue this, whatever it is we have, than you cannot just push my love aside like it is worthless or meaningless." She detached herself from him as she smiled bitterly. "I understand if you cannot say that you love me, I know it may come with time."

Sasuke smirked and crossed his arms slowly. "And how long do you expect to be around?" His hand gestured around the palace. "You have a country to rule."

Sakura shook her head smiled softly up at the King. "My only obligation Uchiha-san, is to the man that I love." She turned towards the garden door. "Konoha will have their king, and I will be free to do as I please."

Sasuke opened his mouth, ready to slam her with a smart ass remark, but the door burst open as he was about to articulate his thoughts.

"Sakura-chan!" A burst of sun-beam energy came rolling into the garden towards the pink-haired princess.

Sasuke quickly pulled Sakura out of the way of the barreling blonde before she could get trampled in his frenzy. "Naruto show some decorum." The King mumbled, his voice laced with irritation.

"But I need to hug my Sakura-chan!" The young noble wailed angrily as he latched onto his friend's waist, his face in her stomach.

The position made a shiver run down the possessive king's spine, but the princess seemed not to mind at all as she bent down to wrap her arms around her friend's shoulders. "Naruto! You're okay!" Tears began to form in the corners of the princess's eyes as she looked over her best friend. "You look emaciated, we need to get some fluid in you immediately."

"Of course I'm emancipated! They set me free Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed happily as Sakura helped him to stand slowly.

The young princess rolled her eyes and slung her friend's arm around her shoulders. "Naruto, emaciated means malnourished. You look like a ghost, and you can barely walk. How did you streak across the garden?"

The blonde shrugged and kissed the princess's cheek. "I missed you Sakura-chan, I would do anything for you."

Sasuke clenched his fists, attempting to control his undeniable jealousy. "Sakura you do not need to escort him. The guards will do it."

Sakura rolled her eyes as she glanced at the king before her. "Fine." The young princess turned to the guards waiting at the entrance of the garden and gestured them to her. "Could you please take him to the guest room closest to mine? I need to look over him for the next few days." As the guards began to carry the blonde out of the garden Sakura turned to the man she loved. "Please have the maids bring mine and Naruto's dinner up to his room please."

Before the flustered King could even speak, the spunky princess had turned on her heel out of the garden. Sasuke angrily sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He was beginning to pick up nervous habits with all of the stress the pink-haired brat was causing him.

"So I see you and Sakura have become closer." Kakashi mumbled lazily from the doorway.

Sasuke pulled out the flask hidden in his armor for emergencies. The young king took a swig before facing his former teacher. "We've always been close."

Kakashi shrugged and lazily pulled out his book. "You do speak to her in full, long, coherent sentences."

Sasuke shrugged and absentmindedly stared at the flask in his hand. "She's incompetent."

The aged knight simply turned a page in his book. "I think you and I both know that she is fully competent Sasuke."

Sasuke growled angrily and glared at his former teacher, but said nothing as he continued to stare off at the window before him. Why was it that the old man was all of a sudden interested in his relationship with Sakura?

But of course Kakashi had always been a perceptive old man, and he knew exactly what was running through his prized pupil's mind. "Eventually you will need a queen Sasuke. And eventually so will every other king. Now that Sakura is no longer queen, she is up for grabs for anyone who wants her." Kakashi finally put his book down and into his pocket. "Don't burn the bridge you want to claim Sasuke." With that the grey-haired knight turned to walk out of the garden.

Sasuke took a relaxing breath as he let his mentor's words sink in. Kakashi was right, he was always right.

.

.

.

_Sasuke stared solemnly at the princess as she slept away peacefully in her bed. Here she was, safe, beautiful, without care. This is how he wanted, needed her to stay. Sasuke examined the frail princess's body as she recovered from the horrible events that had transpired the night before. Sakura was almost raped, it was all his fault, and now he was faced with the evidence all over her body. Her beautiful neck and face were littered with shallow cuts and a couple of bruises, and he could clearly see the bruises forming form the bite-marks on her neck. If he allowed anyone to make such marks on her it would be him. Not some low-life that caught him off-guard._

_The tortured knight hissed angrily as he turned and faced away from the sleeping princess. He shouldn't have let her stray that far away from him, he should have protected her better. He should have made sure that she was visible at all times. Sasuke forced back the lump in his throat as his fist hit the thick glass of the window in front of him. He would not lose her like he lost his family, he would protect her better than he had protected his brother. He would be strong._

_Breaking the knight's thoughts Kakashi cleared his throat loudly as he entered the princess's bed chamber._

_Sasuke did not turn to face his teacher as he continued to stare out of the window. "I know. Don't say it."_

_Kakashi's heart broke as he thought of what he would have to do. His pupil had let his charge get hurt, he had made a mistake. And as his teacher Kakashi had to correct him. "Look at her Sasuke."_

_Sasuke shook his head as he continued to look out of the window._

_The head knight took a step towards the young teen in front of him. "Do not make me force you Sasuke. You will look at her."_

_Reluctantly Sasuke turned to Kakashi, eyes red with anger. "I know I messed up."_

_Kakashi shook his head and gestured to the body of the princess. "Look at her." The young knight turned to the body of the princess and looked at her again. "Those marks should not be there." Kakashi gently pulled the shoulder of the princess's dress down, revealing the nail marks of her assailant across her chest. "You could have prevented this Sasuke."_

_Sasuke clenched his fingers and glared at the body of the princess. "I know. I fucked up."_

_"Were you distracted?" The aged knight pulled up the princess's sleeve and continued with the lesson he needed to teach the young knight._

_Sasuke shook his head._

_"Then how was she able to get so deep into the forest?"_

_"We were playing hide-and-seek." Sasuke's voice was weak as he attempted to keep his knees from giving out._

_"You know that is not allowed."_

_Sasuke nodded. "She asked me, and I gave in."_

_"Do you love her?"_

_Sasuke nodded as he let a tear escape. Kakashi would be the only one to see him break, he'd seen the young knight break plenty of times before. "I shouldn't have let it happen."_

_Kakashi put his hand on his shoulder. "Then you will not let it happen again." The tall knight pulled Sasuke around to face him before dropping to his knees to even out their heights. "Sasuke, you will not make the same mistake I did."_

_Sasuke bowed his head before his father figure. "I will not make the same mistake you did." Kakashi nodded in a satisfied manner, stood, and ruffled the young knight's hair. Quietly the elderly knight left his prodigy to spend time with his love._

_Now that the man that raised him was out of the room Sasuke let the tears fall as he stared at the marred princess before him. He would never let this happen to her again. Those marks should not be there. So Sasuke set about making them his. Gently he bent down to the princess and gently kissed each mark on her face and neck. Maybe God would look favorably upon him and make them disappear overnight. Maybe the horrendous memory of her attacker could be replaced with a sweet memory of the young knight gently kissing the beautiful princess._

_Sasuke gently pushed strands of hair away from Sakura's face. Maybe one day Sasuke could show her how much he loved her. How terrified he was when she had gone into the forest, maybe one day they would live in a world where he was not only her knight, but her lover._

_But right now Sasuke vowed only one thing. Sakura would never be hurt like this again._

_._

_._

_._

"Naruto, please stop trying to get up. I need to dress your injuries and if you keep moving I will not be able to do so." Sakura urged the blonde softly as she fussed over his weak stature.

Naruto pouted sadly at the princess before smiling cheekily. "It feels great to be with you again Sakura-chan."

Sakura smiled softly at the blonde and kissed his forehead. "I missed you too Naruto. I'm glad you are safe." The young princess grimaced as she unwrapped the amateur bindings covering the blonde's arm. "Who treated you when you were freed?"

The young king shrugged and winced as the bandages peeled away from a particularly sore spot on his arm. "Some knight that was with Kakashi."

Sakura sighed frustrated as she continued to pull the bandage away. "Well he obviously didn't know what he was doing." Sakura's eyes widened in mortification as she stared at the burn marks on Naruto's arm. "What did they do to you?"

Naruto's smile faded as he looked away from his friend and up at the ceiling. "The usual I guess. Some torture, some starvation, and the run-of-the-mill ridicule." He took a deep breath before he continued in a more serious tone. "They threw me in a cell, didn't feed me for a couple of days and then I woke up as they tied me to some torture device."

Sakura felt tears fall down her face as she continued to dress his wounds. "Why were they torturing you? They already had what they needed!"

Naruto shrugged again. "They wanted to know where you were." The blonde smiled and kissed his friend's cheek. "But don't worry Sakura-chan I would protect you with my life!"

Sakura let out a sob as she threw her arms around her best friend. "You're an idiot!" She cried softly as she held onto him tightly. "Such an idiot." They stayed that way for a while, holding onto each other as the princess cried into her friend's chest, before the princess wiped her tears and pulled away.

Naruto yawned and closed his eyes as he reveled in the warmth the young princess left him with. "Don't leave Sakura-chan." He grabbed onto her hand gently and the young princess grinned at her long-time friend.

"Of course not Naruto." She squeezed his hand gently. "I'll stay by your side until you're better."

Sakura smiled sadly as she watched the young king before her close his eyes in contentment and fall asleep. In his delirium Naruto clutched onto the hand of the beautiful princess that laid in his with a vice-like grip.

That was how Sasuke found them as he quietly stood in the doorway to his annoying friend's temporary room. The king quietly stalked up behind the girl he loved and gently put his hands on her shoulders, startling her from her quiet contemplation.

"We have special guests for dinner." He kissed her temple. "I would appreciate it if you would come down to dinner and represent your country."

Sakura shook her head and shook the king's hands off of her shoulders. "I am staying by his side until he wakes up." The pink-haired princess tried to hold back her tears as she spoke to the man behind her. "It's my fault he is here and I am not leaving until he is fully recovered."

Sasuke sighed and lifted the princess out of her chair as she squealed and kicked her legs out in front of her. Sasuke rolled his eyes and softly whispered into her ear. "If you aren't quiet the Dobe will wake up." Immediately Sakura calmed down and let the king carry her across the room. Gently Sasuke set her down on her feet before squaring her shoulders to face him. "Yes you did flee your people. Yes you did give up your throne. But that does not mean that any of this is your fault." Sasuke kissed her forehead softly. "You did the right thing."

Angrily Sakura pushed at his chest in an attempt to push him away, but the king did not budge. "How can you say that?! Look at him! He is broken because of me!" Sakura cried as she gestured to the sleeping king.

"And if you had stayed that would have been you." Sasuke snapped. "Danzou would have taken you as his wife and done whatever he wanted to you. You are the only person who can save your kingdom, and leaving was the only way to protect him."

Sakura shook as she continued to sob and look at the ground. "I should have been stronger."

Sasuke pulled the princess into his body and held her tightly. The king could not figure out what to say to the beautiful woman before him so he did the only thing he knew to do. He kissed her full on the mouth, tasting the tears that fell from her eyes and swallowing the sobs that escaped her body.

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"Where is the princess?" Kakashi asked suspiciously as he took his seat at the dinner table.

Sasuke shrugged and picked up his wine glass. "Tending to the dobe."

Kakashi hummed in contemplation as he turned to the young man sitting across from him. If the knight hadn't of raised the raven-haired king he would have mistaken the spy across from him for the King of Otogakure.

"Kakashi, this is Sai." Neji introduced the two strangers to each other. "Sai has been our correspondence within Danzou's organization since the reign of the late King."

"God rest his soul." Kakashi raised his glass above his head and took a short sip out of reverence. "Welcome to Otogakure Sai."

The young spy nodded in acknowledgement as he began to pick at the food on his plate. "Danzou is preparing an attack on Suna, as you all may well know." Sai looked around the dining table and addressed the strategists and nobles there. "He believes that a rebel group left of Sakura's army infiltrated and are now on their way to Suna with the Naruto." Sai glanced over at the King of Otogakure.

Sasuke nodded slowly and took a sip of his wine. "Kakashi, Nara we will remain alert and keep the troops refreshed often in case Danzou decides to make a pit stop in Oto."

The two nobles being addressed nodded as they continued to eat their dinner in relative silence before Neji spoke up. "I know we keep avoiding this topic, but it needs to be discussed. What are we going to do about Sakura?"

Sasuke paused momentarily in his movements. "What do you mean by 'do' Hyugga?"

Neji shrugged, unaffected by the intimidating tone the king was using. "I mean as far as protection for her sake goes. We cannot just ignore the fact that she is a massive target right now."

Sasuke contemplated the noble's words for a moment. "Do we have guards to spare?"

Neji shook his head as he took a sip of his wine. "I thought we might be able to use some clansmen as protection."

"No." Sasuke put his wine glass down on the table. "The clansmen are needed to protect the clans. I will not have the entirety of Konoha at risk, Kakashi and I will keep watch of the princess."

"I will do the same." Sai chimed in from his end of the table. He glanced at the curious look the king gave him before continuing. "Sakura and I have become what one would call 'friends'."

Sasuke nodded quietly as he continued his dinner. He did not like this new Sai character running around the palace.

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"Princess, you should get some rest." Sai said quietly from the doorway as he watched his pink-haired friend sit at attention at Naruto's bedside.

Sakura turned to smile warily at her friend. "Hello Sai." She quickly turned her attention back to the sleeping blonde. "Was your travel nice?"

Sai nodded as he sat next to the princess. "Yes it was fine." He glanced at the sleeping king. "He looks like he's dead."

Sakura smiled softly and leaned her head on Sai's shoulder. "He is fine for right now, maybe a little uncomfortable but right now he is okay."

Sai tensed up at the sudden affection, before he glanced down mortified at the princess. "Princess, I don't think that the king would be happy with your feelings for me."

Sakura's head lifted off of her friend's shoulder as she glanced at him confusedly. "What are you talking about Sai? Sasuke would be fine with me having friends."

"Don't people normally show that they have feelings for someone when they become affectionate with them?" Sai asked matter-of-factly.

Sakura giggled and smiled at her friend. "No Sai, people are affectionate with one another when they care for each other." Sakura lightly wrapped her arms around Sai and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I care for you as a friend cares for another friend."

Sai nodded his head and continued to look at the blonde-haired king. "Like you care for Naruto." The words came off as more of a statement rather than a question.

Sakura nodded and pressed a kiss to her friend's head as she sleepily closed her eyes and let sleep consume her carefully. "If he wakes up let me know." The young princess yawned quietly.


End file.
